01 The M War
by Tzarina8472
Summary: 3 months after his incapacitating defeat, Eggman provokes a new threat to the world that will stretch the balance of life itself on Mobius, and give a new meaning to an "M" class planet. No one will be who they might seem. Truth is twisted and lost at the bottom of a lake of shiny goo. Friendships will tested in a terrible blood feud. T for violence and some graphic descriptions.
1. Prologue: The Future

The Future

_In order to deal with the present and anticipate the future, you must first understand the past._

_The past is gone forever, the future may never come, but now is a gift, that's why we call it the present._

_Time is power, but power is not time. No matter how powerful you are, you only live so long._

_If cats have nine lives, how many lives do mice have?_

_Life is tough. Get caught just once at the wrong place at the wrong time and doing the wrong thing, it's over. You're grounded and that's final._

_Don't be afraid your life will end, be afraid it will never begin._

_Pay it forward, pay it back._

_Stories are words. Objects are things. Actions are demonstrations._

* * *

Mobius. A one-edged geometric surface with only one continuous side, formed by giving a 180° twist to a narrow, rectangular strip of paper and then connecting the two ends together. If you cut one in half length wise, everything gets twice as big, but twice as messy. Repeat, and you can end up with either a chain, or one great big mess.

Maybe it was superstition. Maybe it was destiny. Maybe some supernatural being in the sky had the gall and deranged sense of irony to name us Mobians. Maybe one thing lead to another and ended in one big mess, all connected, all without reason or purpose. Maybe that's why they call them 'Chaos' Emeralds, even though they aren't really emeralds, but diamonds.

Now is the future. The past is gone. The world is almost as dead as it is dry. "It's always burning somewhere," they say. "There once was a time when the ground was green and the sky was blue." They say that "There once was a giant floating piece of land in the air." "Do you see all the brighter stars at night? Legend has it that we used to have a moon." And on, and on, and on.

Now is the present. We live in deep trenches where there still exists part of what once was called an ocean. We purify our water and farm under the water and hunt in the water and use the water to keep the bugs at bay. Water is our lives, only the toughest of the tough and the strongest of the strong survive.

Our great grandparents told us that their great grandparents told them that our world was once beautiful. People lived on plains and beaches and mountains and clouds. You could open a box and talk to someone on the other side of the world. The sun appeared for more than six to seven hours each day. You could run without worrying about falling off the edge of the walkways, because they walked on level ground instead of on shelves in the bottom of the trenches.

"Never go above the edge, young one. It's far too dangerous up there."

"What is up there?" I asked.

"Fire. If you go above the edge without protection, the sun on the bare ground is so hot that you will burn."

"If the bugs live up there, why don't they burn?"

"Because the bugs can adapt to overcome obstacles within two generations, except for the water."

"Will they ever go away?" I asked hopefully.

My teacher sighed. "Maybe. Someday we may be able to find a way to kill the bugs once and for all. Then we might be able to climb the cliffs and reclaim the homes of our ancestors. But until then, we must stay in the safety of the trenches."

"What if someone were to go back in time and make it so the bugs never came?"

He laughed. "Keep thinking, small one. It's good that society has little thinkers like you." Then he tucked me into bed and left.

I thought about my life, every day the same dead story, and I didn't even know how or why. Things just were, and everything else was just a story. I thought about the strange stones I had found, about the way they tickled me inside when I held one and lifted something with my mind. I'd asked the other children in the home, showed them the stones, but none of them could feel the tingling when they did things like I could. I wondered what that meant. Why me? I'm nothing special. My life is as ruined as everyone else's, but we still live.

And so I showed the two stones to a very old man. No one knew exactly how old he was, nor did he look very old. He was a stranger among us, always alone in his own little home and away from everyone else. "He wasn't always there," they say. "He just fell from the sky one day, so they gave him a home and made him welcome." The only thing we knew about him was that he liked kids, to a degree. Every now and then, the three of us would fly over to his house and knock on the door. If he was in a good mood, he'd let us in and listen as we told him our stories of misadventures. If he was in a very good mood, he might tell us a story of his own, and they were always about how things used to be, before the bugs. When we asked, he said he couldn't tell us much about the bugs or how they got there. He didn't remember. But that was ok with us kids. He was a strange old man and there was no one like him, so it was ok for him to be strange.

Then I opened my hands and showed him the stones I'd found several days before. I told him how I'd found them embedded in the cliff, and how I'd used my mind to get them out, but he seemed not to hear. He just stared at them and didn't blink. When I was done, he leaned forward, picked up one of the stones, held it in his hand, and closed his eyes. Then the stone glowed, and we all fell backwards, and he said to the stone, "It's been a long time."

I asked him to tell us about the stones. He looked at me and sat back, staring at us. "These are no ordinary stones…" he began.


	2. Chapter 1 Poached Eggs

Poached Eggs

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAILS!" Everyone jumped out from behind boulders and trees and bushes as the bag came off the guest of honor's head.

Tails laughed and shoved Sonic away. "I should have known! I should have known that you had to have a surprise party!"

"Turnabout is fair play, little bro!" Sonic twisted up the bag and snapped it at his friend. "This time, it was my turn to surprise you."

"I wasn't surprised."

Knuckles laughed. "Then what was that, 'Oh I should have known,' all about?"

"Maybe he's surprised we didn't surprise him sooner!" Amy put her arms around Sonic's neck.

"Naw," Tails smiled. "I'm surprised that Sonic actually put me in that bag and said I was being kidnapped."

"I had to do something to make you come!" Sonic unfolded Amy's hands from on his chest. "Cream's cake was just too epic to not have a party that went with it."

Cream bounced over. "Tails! Come see the cake!"

Tails followed her. "Wow! You made that? All by yourself?"

It was a simple cake, except for the fact that it was cut in the same of Tails's face, and decorated likewise. Around the edge sat thirteen little cupcakes topped by thirteen little number candles. Each cupcake was frosted with a different picture depicting all of Tails's adventures. The first cupcake showed a mini West Island, the second one was of Sonic, then Eggman, the Tornado, the Death Egg, Knuckles, Chaos Zero, the missile, Shadow, Tails's Extreme Gear, Dark Gaia, Yacker the Wisp, and finally his own face again.

Cream folded her hands behind her back and nodded. "Um hum! Mother helped me make all the colors for the frosting, and Cheese was our taste tester, but I did all the rest. Do you like it?"

Tails picked up the cupcake with the Tornado. "Absolutely not! I love it!" He took a tiny bite. "Boy, and I thought it was good enough to look at."

Cream giggled.

"And speaking of Cheese…" Tails scanned the air above the heads. "Where is he?"

He saw Knuckles laughing at Sonic, who was in the middle of an arm length struggle between himself and Amy.

She giggled again. "Oh, he's around. I never go anywhere without him. You should know that by now!"

"Look!" Sonic pointed at the table. "Birthday boy took the first bite!"

"Nice try, Sonic!" Amy twirled away from his hand and spun into a hug.

"I'll race you for the second piece."

"You're on!" Amy suddenly ran up to the table.

Sonic and Knuckles both laughed.

Amy turned around. "Hey! Sonic! You said you'd race me!"

"Knucks," Sonic saluted with two fingers. "It looks like I've gotta run."

"Good luck, not that you'll need it." Knuckles patted him on the back.

"Oh, you'll need it alright!" Amy took out her hammer and charged.

_Poof!_ Sonic vanished and the wind stirred all around.

Amy grumbled. "Why does he have to do that?"

"Amy," Tails handed her a cupcake. "He's Sonic."

"Let's not make this day all about me, ok?"

They all turned around. There was Sonic on the other side of the table. "Today is all about the best sidekick a guy could ask for!"

Amy was about to throw her hammer, but Sonic ran forward and grabbed it out of her hand.

"Hey, hey, hey!" He tossed it down, where it disappeared. "You'll wreck that awesome cake if you do that."

Amy laughed and threw her arms around him. "Sonic, you're the best!"

Everyone else laughed.

* * *

Eggman sat alone in his surveillance room, silently watching the festivities on Angel Island with his feet propped up on the desk. There wasn't much else he could do, seeing as the little yellow twerp had programmed a virus that gave all Eggman robots free will and a rebellious attitude, no matter how stupid he built their brains. It got to the point where even the light switches wouldn't turn on the light if they were in a bad mood. So, ever since three months ago, Eggman had been rebuilding his warships and robotic armies in a network quarantined environment. But rebuilding from literally square one was no fast or instantaneous process. For now, he had ample time to watch the hedgehog and his friends and feel the hatred.

Then a light started to blink.

_What's this? Something new?_ Eggman muted the sound of happiness and brought up what was triggering the Stellar Egg Sensor Net. The screen blipped and the object appeared.

It looked like a sphere of solid lead, about the size of… A large city? A small island? The Death Egg? Yes, the Death Egg was probably the best description, except that it didn't bare the imprint of his lovely face nor was it egg shaped.

Eggman leaned forward and folded his hands. "Well hello. Who are you?" He pushed the button to send out a general greeting.

* * *

Captain, we are being probed.

How? And by whom?

I don't know Sir. Wait. What's this? … We just received a message from the biosphere's surface.

Intelligent life forms? On a biosphere like that?

Apparently so, Sir.

Hmmm… You.

Me?

Yes, you. Go to the surface of this biosphere and contact the life form that sent us the signal. We need to understand them before we can interpret the signal.

* * *

Eggman rapped his fingers on each other. "I guess there's no life on that ship." He grinned. "That means I can send up a few scavengers and harvest the materials for…"

The shiny marble in space dripped a portion of itself into another smaller sphere. The drip fell past the egg sensor net and out of visual range.

"Well, well, well. It appears that we _shall_ have a visitor. What an unusual pod deployment system, is that ship made out of liquid metal? If so, how is it still liquid if it's in space? If I could study the technology, and copy that design, I would be unstoppable! Sonic could spin dash all he wanted to through my next generation of robots! And I'd sit back and watch the show until I would tell it to finish him off!" He turned around in his chair and stood up.

A shiny silver ooze leaked in from under the door.

"What now?" Eggman stepped around the puddle, then bent down for a closer look.

The puddle reached up and slapped him on the nose.

"Egad! It's alive!" Eggman jumped back and climbed on the desk, then watched as it transformed. He touched the spot on his nose, but stung so he just watched the silver stuff.

The ooze shrank and split into two little ovals. One end each of the ovals sprouted and grew taller. The two sprouts joined, bulged, and branched out. Within three seconds of the slap, there was another Dr. Eggman in the room. "Good evening," it said, testing out its limbs.

"Uh…" Eggman was speechless, but not to worry, something would come eventually.

The creature took a step. "Bowl full of jelly, how do you not melt under so much weight?!"

"Who are you?" Eggman demanded. "What are you?! How dare you impersonate me!"

It made meaningless noises with its mouth, troubled by doing so and apparently disgusted. "My name is unpronounceable by your fumbling tong. As such with what we call ourselves."

Eggman stood on the floor and faced it. "Why are you here?"

"We received a signal from this general vicinity. I was ordered to come down and investigate the native who sent the signal so we can decode it and learn your intentions. But since it was you who sent the signal, that will no longer be necessary." It cocked its head. "Your intentions are to take advantage of us. We cannot allow that to happen, even if whatever plan you came up with will not succeed. You see, we do not fly our own ship. That which you saw on your monitor screen is the collection of all our biomasses together. There is no technology to help you imitate what we do naturally. I suggest you limit your contact with the biomass so that they may choose to spare you and this biosphere. I harbor no ill will, but they who sent me may decide otherwise."

"Now wait just one minute!" Eggman quickly sealed the door. "_No one_ gives _me _the heave ho! Especially not on my own territory! And NO ONE comes at me with a proposition like that! I'm afraid that it is I who is to be feared! And now I shall teach you what it means to be on Dr. Eggman's bad side!"

It glanced at the monitor still silently showing Tails's birthday party. "I wonder what your enemies would say if they heard that. They'd probably laugh at you, and remind you of what they did to your computers."

"How do you know about that!?"

It stared at him. "You knew about that. Now I know about that."

Eggman punched a button in disgust. A hollow glass tube descended from the ceiling and encircled his duplicate. "It doesn't matter what they would think. They won't matter for much longer, especially not after I unlock the secrets of your shape shifting abilities."

"You will find nothing." It sighed. "I find it harder and harder to remain neutral about you. If you do nothing to rectify my situation, I guarantee the wrath of us."

"We'll just see about that!" Eggman walked closer, grinning. "Won't we?"

* * *

"You have to open _this one _first." Amy handed Tails a small cube of a present.

"Please don't shake it," Cream grinned.

"Ok," Tails carefully unwrapped the bright paper packaging. The box that remained in his hands sprang to life on its own. "AHH!" He dropped it on the ground. "What's in that thing?!"

The box wiggled for a while, then burst open with a little chao wearing a red bow tie and a cute party hat. Cheese flew up to Tails and blew on a noise maker at his nose. _BVVVVT!_ "Chao!"

Sonic laughed. "So that's why you couldn't bring your gift until later! Good one, Cream!"

"Wow!" Tails held still while Cheese put the tiny party hat on his head. "Totally unexpected."

Cream giggled. "It was Cheese's idea! I guess he wanted his own special way to wish you happy birthday!"

"And now," Amy passed the cone hats around. "You can open presents the proper way."

Knuckles was staring into the sky. "What's that?" he quietly asked Sonic, who was on his left.

"What's what?" Sonic looked upwards.

"Behind that flicky shaped cloud," he pointed with his fist. "There is a huge, round, dark spot on the cloud."

"Hmmm…" Sonic tried to think on what it could be. "Any idea what that thing is?"

"Not a clue." Knuckles folded his arms. "If we were on the surface, I might think it was Angel Island on a cloudy day."

"But since we're already on Angel Island…" Sonic tapped his foot. "You don't suppose it could be Eggman? Trying to ruin the happiness of the reason he was ruined?"

"If so, he's had plenty of time to come up with something." Knuckles started walking away. "I've got a bad feeling about this. I'm going to go check on the Master Emerald."

"Hmmm…" Sonic looked up one last time before rejoining his friends.

"Where is Mr. Knuckles going, Mr. Sonic?" Cream adjusted Cheese's party hat.

"He's being his old paranoid self again." Sonic sat on the grass.

"Too bad for him. Hey Sonic! This one is from you!" Tails opened the package. "Cool." Inside was a heavy box. "What is it?"

"It's a tool box." Sonic smirked.

"Another one?" Tails looked all around it and found the latch. "I already have, like, thirty tool boxes and… whoa." It opened up into a mini computer, empty of software and ready for new programming.

"How is that a tool box?" Amy poked the mini computer.

"Sonic, where did you get this?" Tails turned it on.

Sonic lay back in the grass. "It used to be in the head of one of Eggman's oldies. The thing was damaged so bad it was completely dead, so I fixed the dent and thought you'd like to do the rest!"

"This is awesome!" Tails closed it and put it in hammerspace. "Thanks Sonic!"

* * *

Sir! We've lost the scout's life signs!

What happened!?

A lot of strange things at first, then he just… faded out.

Our comrade… was killed…?

That was an act of war! Summon the war ships! We'll show the population of this biosphere what happens when they kill one of our own!

* * *

"Thanks Sonic!" Tails smiled. He glanced up. "What is that?"

Everyone looked to the sky, then they saw the dark cloud.

"I don't know," Sonic mused. "The Knucks man was worried about it."

A hole opened in the cloud, and they saw through it something shiny. Then something white and getting larger angled from the hole, looking like it was heading towards the island.

"That looks like some kind of missile," Amy pointed to it. "There's another one. And another."

"Party's over! Time to go!" Sonic jumped to his feet, scooping up the girls as he ran to the closest edge of the island.

Tails flew after them, just as fast. "Sonic, what if it's not…"

There was an explosion from the center of the island, the shockwave so powerful that it knocked everyone off their feet and out of the air.

Amy fell into the twin V trunks of a tree, getting her ankle stuck. "Sonic!"

Sonic spun through one half of the tree and picked her up again. "I think it is, Tails!"

"Wait! Where's Cheese?!" Cream flew up a few feet. "CHEESE!"

Another explosion, this one causing the ground around them to split apart and crumble.

"No time!" Sonic looked up. "He'll have to find us on the ground!"

"NO!" Cream flew higher.

Tails grabbed her and brought her down. "Cream! We have to go!" Still continuing to fly, he grabbed onto Sonic's shoulder.

"Hang on!" Sonic charged and jumped off the edge of Angel Island, just as the third explosion shattered the pieces of the island apart.

The four found themselves skydiving. Sonic face up, Cream face down and tipped forward, Amy and Tails tumbling. Cream leveled out and helped Tails, then she caught up to Amy. Tails finished stabilizing himself, then tucked in to fall faster. Sonic spread his arms to slow down, making it easier for Tails to catch him. Cream and Tails slowly slowed everyone's fall, gentling lowering Amy and Sonic to the ground.

When they looked up, there was no Angel Island. Gigantic chunks of land grew bigger and bigger, threatening to crush them.

Sonic linked hands with everyone. "Looks like we're not out of the woods yet!" He bolted out of the way of their party spot, reaching safety just instants before it wedged itself into Mobius.

They stood together on a nearby plane, watching the afternoon literally fall apart before their eyes. Too stunned to say anything, all they could do was bend their knees when the earthquakes hit. Earthquakes caused by tons of rock, dirt, and surface of a lush and beautiful island slamming into the ground.

"Sonic," Amy quivered beside him. "You said Knuckles went to go check on the Master Emerald… Do you think he…"

"I don't know, Amy." Sonic just stood there. _Stupid! If I'd have insisted he stayed with us…_

"Mr. Knuckles…" Cream's eyes filled with tears. In a whimpering voice she cried, "And Cheese!" She sobbed.

"Oh, Cream," Amy tried to give her a hug.

"NO!" Cream pushed her away and ran several steps.

Tails shaded his eyes, then flew towards the still falling debris.

"Tails? What are you doing?" Sonic followed him.

"I think I see something," he flew faster.

Sonic caught up to him. "What do you see?"

"I see, OMPH!" He was knocked out of the air.

Sonic slid to a halt and walked back to Tails. "Buddy?"

"I found Cheese!" Tails laughed, holding the dazed chao up from his stomach.

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese flew up again, then continued his mad sprint for Cream.

Sonic helped Tails stand up again.

"CHEESE!" Cream bellowed across the field. She waved.

Tails waved back, frowning.

"Hey, you ok?" Sonic patted him on the shoulder.

"I don't know." Tails sighed. "It's by birthday, but Angel Island just got destroyed. We found Cheese, but what about Knuckles?"

Sonic looked towards the pile of Angel Island. "He… We can look for him when everything settles down, but… If he's not ok, I'm sure he didn't feel a thing."

Tails shivered. "Who could have done this?"

"I don't know." Sonic looked at the sky, now able to see a perfect shiny sphere of silver stuff up behind some clouds. "But I am going to find out!"


	3. Chapter 2 Identity Of The Sphere

Identity Of The Sphere

**THE FLOATING ISLAND HAS FALLEN!**

**Yesterday, world famous heroes Sonic, Knuckles, Amy Rose, Cream, and Cheese were celebrating a privet birthday party for their friend, Miles 'Tails' Prower, on Angel Island. During the party, a mysterious silver sphere appeared in the sky behind a cloud and fired three of what appeared to be white energy missiles at the center of the island, causing the Master Emerald to be destroyed, the island to crack, and finally fall. According to Sonic himself, Knuckles the Echidna was the only one left on the island when it was destroyed, saying: "…he was going to check on the Master Emerald…" Searches are currently underway for the lost Echidna at and around the crash site in the hopes that he used his strength and gliding abilities to get to safety before the Island fell.**

Sonic tossed the newspaper into an incinerator on his way out of Eggman's office. "'It's not my fault a UFO rained on your parade, Rodent. Why do you always blame everything on me?' Who else would… Could it be, Egghead!? Aliens? And what's with the incinerator anyway? Why can't the guy just have normal trash cans like everyone else?" Sonic grumbled and spun through the wall instead of walking through the open gate. "No matter what you say, Eggman, I am convinced that you had something to do with it! You're hiding something! I can feel it! And for Knuckle's sake, I'm going to see that justice will be done!"

* * *

Sir! I have discovered why we missed our target!

Well?!

Ah, um… The pulse canon, apparently they were attracted to that flying land mass for some reason. The pulses, Sir.

Speak like a normal being.

Our aim was true, but the energy pulses were attracted to the flying land mass rather than the metallic structures we aimed at.

Why?

I'm not quite sure, sir. And I don't think there is a way to find out, as the pulses suddenly held a steady course after the first one hit, as though they were no longer being attracted to a certain force.

Are there any other factors that could contribute to another mishap?

Possibly, but it is impossible to tell, sir.

Hmmm… We need to understand this biosphere better. Take a battalion of _trained_ scouts and send them to the biosphere's surface. They are to interact with the intelligence for one celestial time unit only, then come back and report their findings. Be sure to make them circulate all the biosphere, to all populations of intelligence, so we can get an accurate picture of these lifeforms.

Right away sir!

* * *

The headmaster has been rather demanding since our comrade disappeared, the small drop of a much greater blob of shiny thought to itself. It landed on something hard and sloping, so it slid off and spilled into a living substance like knives through its own biomass. Why! Of all the detestable! Miserable places to park yourself did you chose to be under me? The being mimicked the living matter it had run into, but it apparently had no brain, no sense of mobility, no instinct, not even a way to say hello. I wonder what the natives call this sort of useless lifeform. Only one way to find out, it thought.

All around, for as far as it could spread itself thin, more of the rude and brainless lifeform. It was beginning to find it quite a nuisance and rather painful when it detected another biomass. However, this biomass had a form, but no thought or feeling. It didn't move, it didn't do anything. It was not like the particularly hard substance it had fallen on, but it wasn't quite like the living organism covering the ground. More like something in between, like it had once been alive but not wasn't. I think I'll try and mimic this, see what it looks like.

So the creature regrouped with itself and formed itself to resemble the thing it had found in every way. Solidity, structure, internal structure, and finally external pigment. It found that this creature had two organs for optical input, so it opened its eyes and examined itself.

It was the color of oxidized iron, with paddles on the ends of four appendages, nothing on the short fifth one. It had a head, with flexible, non-feeling drapery all the way around except where the eyes were. Laying on the uncomfortable surface of the biosphere, it wondered if the inhabitance of this world lived like this. 'Twas possible, the scout had encountered such lifeforms before.

Then what was that? A sensation like an invisible force collecting in, and reverberating in tiny funnels on the sides of its head, more commonly known as noise. Yes, things inside were beginning to settle, it was about time! The longer the scout mimicked this strange creature, the more things were beginning to fall in place. Which could be dangerous. If you mimicked a certain organism too long, you may begin to believe that you are that organism.

There was that noise again, the same one, except closer. Suddenly the scout saw another lifeform, but this one did not in any way resemble the one it was mimicking. The new lifeform was the same color as the the heavens were now, but much darker. Another thing, it was using its four appendages in different ways. Two appeared to be for moving, the other two for putting near its mouth and making that noise yet again.

Then the other lifeform noticed the scout and became quite excited! It moved quickly and half doubled over, reaching out one appendage and speaking in this native alien tong. The scout moved its own appendage and put the paddle in the… thing at the end of the other one's appendage. Quickly, it liquefied a tiny part of the center of the paddle and directly touched the new creature.

Information download in less than a second. The new creature called itself "Sonic" and called the scout "Knucks". "Sonic" thought that "Knucks" had been terminated by the fall of "Angel Island." The green, repulsive stuff all over was called "Grass" and in a category known as "Plant". There were a whole bunch of "Friends" who were worried about "Knucks's" safety. We should go to them to let them know you're alright.

"Sure," said the scout, taking on the identity of Knucks. Since he wasn't able to get the full persona and memories of the nonliving creature, that when looked for wouldn't be found because it was crushed under a humongous rock, Knucks knew it was in his best interests to reconstruct the nature of Knucks by making contact with as many of his old friends as possible. Sound of voice would not be a problem, because the imitated vocal cords would naturally sound familiar to Sonic.

"Ok pal, everyone'll be dying to know. How did you survive the fall?" Sonic led them through the maze of upturned chunks of dirt and stone.

Knucks thought up a plausible story based on Sonic's knowledge of the real Knucks and what he thought the real Knucks would have done. "I tried to glide away, but something hit me in the head. I don't remember anything after that, until you found me."

Sonic winced. "That's luck! If something bigger than a rock had fallen on you… You know, the media has been _crazy_ about Angel Island being reduced to a bunch of boulders in the plains. I'm deeply sorry that you lost your home, and the Master Emerald. Would you like to stay with me until you find a new home?"

"No. I'd rather not talk about it right now." He looked back at the once beautiful remains of Angel Island.

"Oh, I totally understand Dude." Sonic patted him on the back. "Hey, take my hand and we'll be there in no time."

_That's right! This, this 'Sonic' can run unnaturally fast._ Knucks took his hand.

What a ride! And quite possibly a huge mistake. The faster the hedgehog ran, the longer Knucks's arm stretched. If Sonic looked back, he'd have to be destroyed in order to remain undercover. But when they finally started to slow down, and the arm resumed its normal length without Sonic's knowledge of this event.

They arrived at a little hut of a house. Seeing it called up the information from Sonic that this structure was known as "Tails's Workshop," and that is was a common gathering place among friends. Humble as it looked from the outside, there was a hanger underground where Tails designed and built new airplanes and computers.

A half pint of a rabbit burst out of the door, running at them. "Mr. Knuckles! You're alright!" She, Cream, jumped and threw her arms around his shoulders.

Quick liquefy and contact. This is a very young lifeform, only eight years old. She called him "Mr. Knuckles" and the thing that followed her outside "Cheese."

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese beckoned for everyone else to come out.

A fox, another hedgehog, and a bat walked out of the workshop, known as Tails, Amy, and Rouge.

"Knuckles!" Tails grinned. "We thought you were dead!"

"What can I say?" the scout grinned back. "It takes more than an exploding island to get rid of me!" _Oops! Maybe a bit too much borrowed._ He set Cream on the ground and gave Tails a quick hug. This one called him "Knuckles," but knew that Sonic liked to call him by the nickname "Knucks" and Cream said "Mr." out of respect. She would do the same with Sonic.

"It's about time you showed up!" Amy smiled, but didn't come any closer. "We were all worried sick about you!"

Knuckles let go of Tails as Rouge slowly came forward.

"Hello Knuckie." She put her hands about his neck in a manner much unlike the others. "Do you happen to know what became the Master Emerald?"

Info download. The part time thief, wondering if the Master Emerald was really still intact and hidden somewhere, in hopes of adding it to her collection. She expected to be turned away. "It was shattered by the blast," he told her.

Her makeup face frowned. "What a shame."

"A shame indeed," Knuckles stared at the sky, looking directly at the orb to which he belonged. "We wouldn't want such destruction to befall the rest of the planet."

"No, we wouldn't." Sonic nodded. "We have to get up there and figure out just what Eggman is up to! Tails?"

"Right away, Sonic!" the small fox disappeared back inside the hut.

"You're going to fly up there?" Amy pointed towards the sphere in question. "_Now_?"

"Why not?" Sonic looked at her. "You can come if you want, exploring the dangerous unknown traps Egghead laid out for us with nothing but a fist full of rings to protect us, snooping about but ducking at the last minute before a fireball takes your head off, wreaking havoc on the security systems so the robots have no choice but to seek and destroy, leading up to the ultimate boss battle yet…!"

"STOP!" Amy covered her ears, clearly upset by thinking of the dangers.

Sonic patted her shoulder. "That's ok, Amy. You don't have to come. After all, _someone_ has to stay behind and tell the newspapers that Knuckles is alive."

The grass divided and slowly slit apart the clearing next to the house. Tails in the pilot's cockpit of a small biplane slowly lifted to the surface. "Knuckles! Want to come with us? After all, it was _your_ home they destroyed."

"…and _my_ Emerald…" Rouge tiptoed away.

"Watch it, Rouge," Knuckles growled at her because it was expected, then shook his head at the little fox. "I think I'll see if there's anything left of Angel Island."

"Oh?" Sonic jumped onto the upper wing. "I thought you'd be itching to pick a fight with Egghead by now."

Knuckles put a hand on his forehead. "My head hurts, and I doubt punching robots around is going to help it any." _Don't want to end up blowing away in the wind before their eyes,_ it thought of how his arm had extended beyond the natural norm of any physically challenged species.

"Oh well." Sonic faced the front of the plane and knelt, putting the fingers of his right hand over the front edge of the wing. "Take care of yourself, Knucks!" he waved with his left.

The plane's engine roared to life, and they sped off the metal platform in the grass and out onto the field that was their run way. When they had picked up enough speed, they lifted off the ground and were gone.

Cream looked at Knuckles. "Do you know why you have a head ache Mr. Knuckles?"

"Yeah, I hit my head on something on the way down. I don't remember much until this morning." He rubbed his head for effect.

Cream thought for a bit. "If you hit your head hard enough, that could have damaged your brain, which would explain why you're not remembering. You should go easy on yourself for a few weeks and rest every time you start getting dizzy or tired."

"That'll be very helpful, Cream. Thank you." Knuckles turned to go.

"Can I come with you?" Rouge slid her arms around his.

"No Rouge. Go find some other jewelry store to rob. I'm busy."

"Uh!" She stomped away in mock horror.

* * *

As Sonic and Tails in the Tornado flew higher and higher towards Eggman's mysterious craft, they couldn't help but wonder just how big it was. Tails kept the nose going up at an angle, but Sonic felt as though they'd never get there.

"It sure didn't look this huge from Angel Island!" Sonic leaned into the wind, kneeling on and holding onto the upper wing.

"Sonic, I'm not quite sure that thing is in the atmosphere. We're so high, the air is almost too thin to breath!"

Sonic took a deep breath. It felt like nothing. "You're right. We might need to steal one of Eggman's spaceships to find out what he's really up to."

Just then, they saw something fall from the big ball in the sky. A tiny bit of silver separated from the big mass as though the whole thing were made of water, and the tiny bit was a drop from a lake.

"What was that?" Sonic shaded his eyes as he watched the drop fall somewhere towards the east coast.

Something beeped on Tails's dash board. "I don't know! But for a moment there, the sphere was registering as a liquid, then it changed back to solid! Sonic, I don't think this is Eggman's work at all! Since when did he have tech like that?"

"We've been ignoring each other for a long time, Tails. Anything is possible. Come on, let's go!"

* * *

Ahh! We have been scanned!

What is it this time?

Two lifeforms are flying an air vehicle in the atmosphere nearly below us sir.

Don't just stay there, destroy them!

* * *

Tails tilted and twisted the controls to the left, cooperating with the wind to carry them back home. "Sonic, did you notice anything strange about Knuckles when we saw him today?"

"No."

"Really?" Tails rubbed his chin. "I thought he was acting the tiniest bit weird."

"I didn't notice, but I bet what you saw was part of that whole, hitting his head deal. You know how that can…"

"AAHHHHH!" Tails's collection of rings exploded out of him and sailed out down the sky. He let go of the controls and grabbed his feet.

"What happened?!" Sonic looked over the front edge of the Tornado and watched the bottom half of their plane start falling to the ground. A spinning, shiny silver blade boomeranged back towards them.

Sonic threw a ring at Tails, but then got impaled by the spinning shiny thing, knocked completely off what was left of the Tornado. He looked around and watched his own fist full vanish.

Tails spread his arms as he caught up with skydiving Sonic, holding out the lone ring. "Wana share?"

Sonic grabbed the ring and held on. "Will it protect us both if we get hit again?"

Tails looked up as the boomerang thing finished shredding the Tornado. "Let's hope we don't have the opportunity to test that!"

* * *

Direct hit sir!

Congratulations, now what about the lifeforms that are currently falling to the surface as we speak?

Surely they will cease to exist when they come in contact with the surface.

… Very well. Carry on.


	4. Chapter 3 Knuckles

Knuckles

Knuckles watched the sunrise. It was not unlike many that he'd seen. As a scout, he'd been to a lot of planets and seen many sunrises that had all been different, yet so much the same. Each planet had its own unique sunrise, and this one was no exception. Everything was fading to lightness on one half of the world, his left, was slowly losing stars and that part of the sky was turning a deep, dark gray blue. For less than a minute, the horizon appeared to be on fire where the sun would first appear, and then _Pop!_ The morning sprang to life!

Today, he had to return to the sphere to share all that he had learned here. He was in no danger of forgetting who he was, a problem some of the others might be beginning to experience, for the shell he had copied carried no memories, thoughts, images, personality, nor sense of identity.

The thing was, he didn't completely want to go, despite all the rude thoughtless plants in the way. Mobius was quite a beautiful planet, and Knuckles's friends were nice. All in all, visiting Mobius was a pleasant and peaceful change from the boss's rampages on most of the other worlds they encountered.

Then again, if the boss man was sending scouts to a planet, it meant he wanted to expand the empire. Knuckles sighed. All this beauty was going to be turned to ash and bedrock if the inhabitants put up a fight, and he knew they would. Maybe he should warn his friends of their impending doom, ask them to surrender so that they'd live. They just might listen to one of their own.

_Agh! What was I thinking?!_ It thought to itself. _True personality or not, I am starting to think I _am _Knuckles. I need to take a break._ The creature completely relaxed and liquefied to its natural state. It thought of all the other creatures it had mimicked over the stellar eons, and chose one that wouldn't appear extremely foreign on this world, just weird.

The being it chose to mimic looked mostly human in appearance. He had large pointed ears, transparent hair (which of course looked white while it was dry), and the garments it wore were made of scales. It carried a staff of stiff alien seaweed that clung like a sucker seal to an aquamarine orb at the top, originally used for casting water spells. Since it had no true orb, and the orb the scout did have was more of itself, it couldn't cast water spells like a regular naiad.

_Much better!_ It felt its thoughts clearing and the old, shared personality was much more familiar and easy to control. _If I was losing control, maybe it really is time to go back._

* * *

"Ah! Here they are!" Amy pulled the crazy old man by the hand.

Sonic set down the lower half of the Tornado's engine. "Looking for us?"

"Well, we've been here all morning." Tails used a fusion torch to reattach the halves of the wing supports to each other.

"Yes, I'd like to have a word with you all," the crazy human nodded for attention. "It has to do with your friend Knuckles."

"What about the Knucklehead?" Sonic walked closer.

"Our search teams found him."

"So?" Sonic asked.

Amy stood beside Sonic. "He tried to tell me that Knuckles was dead."

"He _is_ dead," the man corrected.

"No he's not," Tails sent the torch to hammerspace. "Sonic found him yesterday. He said he'd hit his head on a rock and was feeling a little dazed. By the time Sonic and I got back, he was rummaging around in the ruins of Angel Island. Us three spent the night at my house, but I think he left early to watch the sunrise."

The old man wrinkled his forehead. "That's… odd…"

"I _told_ you!" Amy smiled at the old man.

"Why so odd?" Sonic asked.

The human looked at them with renewed attention. "Because we found his body in the ruins of Angel Island, crushed under one of the largest boulders."

"Impossible." Sonic shook his head. "It was probably just a critter…"

"We couldn't recognize him either," he continued. "But when we ran a DNA test, it really did turn out to be your friend. He's been dead for two days."

Tails hopped and flew over. "How is that possible? We saw him… we _talked_ to and _touched_ him only yesterday!"

"It's not possible!" Amy protested. "We need to find Knuckles!"

"Excellent idea." Sonic grabbed Tails's hand and bolted away, followed only by the rushing wind.

"Sonic!" Amy huffed. "He _NEVER_ takes me along!"

"Knuckles!" Sonic slowed down among the ruins. "I knew we'd find you here!"

"Yah, someone tried to tell us that you were dead." Tails hopped to a stop.

"Did they?" Knuckles turned around, staring at them.

Sonic stopped. "Yeah, some crazy old human in a tux. Said they'd found your DNA all under the rocks…"

Knuckles continued to stare at them while workers in the background were still using machines to turn the boulders over. After several seconds, "Well, that's funny, I was just about to leave."

"Leave?" Tails frowned. "Where were you going to go?"

Knuckles glanced from Sonic, to Tails, to Sonic, and back to Tails. Then he began to melt.

Tails shrieked and jumped back, almost knocking Sonic over.

The gooey mess that had been Knuckles slowly reshaped into Tails. "Home," it replied, even creepier using the little fox's voice.

"Who are you?!" Sonic pushed Tails behind himself, tightening his fingers with the other hand.

It melted again, this time turning into Sonic. "Sorry, but your tong isn't capable of pronouncing my name! You'll just have to guess!"

"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THE REAL KNUCKLES!?" Tails shouted from behind Sonic.

"Not a thing." It looked at Tails. "All I know is that I copied the first," it stomped its foot, "_intelligent_ life form I found. However, when I found it, it no longer had much in the way of life in it."

"You killed him…" Sonic grumbled.

"Do I have to kill you?" It changed into an elf type thing, wielding a stick with a blue orb in the top. "It wouldn't be a very fair fight, as I know everything about you, both of you. But you're welcome to try," the squashed elf face with white hair grinned.

Sonic spun into the creature's middle section, zooming out the other side. He skid to a stop and looked over his shoulder.

The thing had liquefied in the belly, allowing Sonic's spin to pass through. "Or," it continued to speak. "I could help you."

"How can the likes of _you_ help us?!" Tails glared at it, holding up his fists.

"I can't, not really." It looked at him. "But I can give you a warning."

Sonic ripped through the shape shifter again. "Warning!"

"Yes, a warning." It changed back into Tails. "For the last twenty four hours, there have been sent scouts like myself to all the countries of your world. Our job is to make contact with everyone we meet, and then return home. Others will use our experiences on this planet to determine the best strategy for concurring your world."

"Just let them try!" Sonic flexed his fingers.

It looked at Sonic. "Believe me, we will not fail."

"You're just saying that to scare us!" Sonic shouted. "I have tackled countless enemies and aliens that would make you look like mere paint on the walls, and now they don't trouble us any longer!"

It sighed. "Sonic, I know everything there is to know about you, even your name."

"My name _is_ Sonic."

"A lie." It shook its head. "Just as soon as you turn eighteen, you're going to run down to the legal business center and legally changed your name from Ma-"

Sonic decked the cute face of his best friend. One swift punch and pushing his thumbs into its throat. "SHUT! UP!"

But the creature liquefied and stood up again, this time transforming into a stone golem. "Heed my words," in a crunching voice. "If the inhabitants of Mobius do not surrender to our power, oceans will burn and craters will be where cities once were."

"That's not going to happen!" Sonic punched the rock, barely able to hide his flinch.

"And what's to stop it?" The creature changed back into Sonic. "You?"

This time when Sonic swung, it jumped out of the way. "Why not?" He chased after it.

"Because, I _am_ you!" It laughed, the familiarity of the laugh shaking something inside the real Sonic. "I can do anything you can do! I can do more! I'm more than you'll ever be!"

"Wana bet?" Sonic stopped while they were somewhere very cold and dark, possibly the south pole.

"Yeah!" it sneered, crossing its arms.

The true blue hedgehog closed his eyes and held up his fists. Seven bright lights appeared in a circle around his head, the Chaos Emeralds.

"What, you think your super form can beat me?" It laughed, and beat him to turning yellow.

"Sure!" Super Sonic blasted a huge ball of energy at it.

The creature absorbed the energy. "Right back at you, blue!" it shot the energy back at Super Sonic.

Super Sonic disappeared for an instant, reappearing from behind and kicking the shape shifter to the ground. "I don't know about you," he blasted a small hole in the ice, "or your buddies." Super Sonic grabbed the imitator Sonic and shoved it in his hole. "But I think you'll find it pretty hard to escape from solid ice!" With a wave of his glowing hand, the ice around the hold melted and refroze over the hold.

The creature inside started glowing like a light bulb. Then it turned into fire. All the ice for several feet around melted and formed a boiling pot of foggy steam. The shape shifter emerged from the hot tub a lava monster with wings. "On the contrary, I found it quite easy."

Super Sonic put his hands together.

"Don't try it…"

"Chaos Blast!" A raging torrent of angry Chaos Energy poured over the lava monster.

When the blast subsided, the monster liquefied and plopped into the tub. After a second it reemerged, glowing white hot. "You foolish little Mobian. I pity your limited existence."

"Is that all you got!?" Super Sonic readied another blast.

"I regret telling you about your doom. Even though it coast me nothing to try to save this pitiful planet, it has cost you everything to deny my efforts."

"As long as I am alive, you and your buddies have to get through ME before you lay a finger this world and its inhabitance!"

"A challenge! Unfortunately, we don't have fingers." The morbid lava face grinned. "Well then, Sonic. I will propose to my master that you will still be alive after we are done. Farewell!" It flapped its wigs and ascended to the sky.

Super Sonic zoomed on up after it. "Going somewhere? As soon as you leave the atmosphere…"

"I'll return to my natural state so I may navigate the heavens. It was fine talking with you Sonic, but I really must leave now." It twisted in midair, slapping him with a liquid wing to send him falling the miles back to the abandoned yellow fox.

"Sonic!" Tails reached him just as the last few shreds of Super were whisked away in the wind. "Are you alright? What happened? If that wasn't Knuckles, what was it? And where is the real Knuckles?"

Sonic slowly stood up out of the dirt and rocks. "Hi Tails. I am fine. We got in a fight. It was an alien. Knuckles is dead, just like they tried to tell us."

Tails looked down.

"I don't believe it either." Sonic also stared at the ground. "We were duped. We all were."

"I wonder what it was like…" Tails rubbed his nose. "You know, for him."

"I'm very sure he didn't feel anything."

"For some reason, I don't feel anything." Tails looked up. "Sonic, we've known him for… forever! And now he's gone. Shouldn't I at least feel _something_?"

Sonic thought about it. "I don't know what to tell you, bud."

"Maybe, it's because we saw that shape shifter looking like him. And how he… she… they… it went away. It looked like Knuckles, and it's still alive. Do you think that somehow, somewhere, we think Knuckles is still alive?"

"I don't know." Sonic patted him on the back. "Come on, Tails. Let's go home. The others will have to know the truth sooner or later."

* * *

You're late.

I know sir. I had to deal with one of the natives who discovered me.

What is this? Have you picked up lying from these worthless life forms?!

Sir?

Or did you so easily forget that ALL your experiences are expressed to EVERYONE as soon as you reattach?

…

You blew your cover on purpose! As a warning! And to what? What purpose did your little rebellious state serve? NOTHING! You were rejected by the planet when you morphed in front of their eyes and now you are rejected by me because you told them of what was to come. … Why?

Their world was beautiful, sir. I didn't want…

_I_?

… I don't know what persona I came in contact with provoked such a thought. Someone that I touched…

So you succumbed to the menial forces of possessing another's form and mentality?

The form I was first spotted in had ceased to hold a mentality. I did the best I could from reconstructing the persona of the individual they thought I was from the minds of its friends.

And that's ALL you did. You lost control. You revealed yourself to the life forms. You told them what you thought we would do to them and their worthless biosphere. You even had the audacity to bring forward this challenge from one, tiny, insignificant, individual. What do you have to support your own defense of my wrath?

… I think, we since the life form that challenged us was so defiant to your judgment, we _should_ take on his, ITS challenge. Let _it_ live through a long a painful version of what would normally come to a resistant biosphere at this phase, just to show it who we are. Squash like insects those who oppose us!

… … I like you, scout. But not enough to let you completely get away with your transgressions.

Completely understandable sir.

Therefore, I hereby reduce your rank to soldier.

… I'm going back.

Yes you are.

Very well, the command is given.


	5. Chapter 4 Islands

Islands

It was a day like no other, the day South Island last saw one. No intelligent population of any kind lived there, only a hermit or two. But that hermit or two were still there, still alive and watching in the morning morning when a South Island sized ball of white radiation descended upon them. Everyone, everything down to the last crumb of multicolored dirt on the bed of the ocean, all of it was vaporized in an instant.

* * *

One hour later, Guiny Island was only a memory. One moment there was sun and beach and trees and ocean. The next, only ocean remained.

* * *

And then Almetay was wiped off the face of the globe, sixty minutes later.

* * *

At the same time in the next time zone, Katamendoo became a crater.

* * *

Dehli, sunrise, gone.

* * *

Just as the day dawned in Taskkhent, the surrounding neighbors were shaken awake when the booming roar of destruction shattered the peaceful morning.

* * *

And the same things happened to Kabool, a village in Madgascar, Nyle, Mosscrow, and then the world heard about it.

* * *

"Sonic!" Tails pounded on Sonic's door. It was twelve thirty in the morning, but this news was much more important than letting him sleep. "Ugh!" Tails pulled out a pair of lock picks and opened the door.

Sonic was in the middle of reaching forward. "That works." He yawned, turning around and stepping aside to let Tails in. "I hope it's important."

Tails entered and turned on the TV. It was already turned to the main news channel, they didn't have time for anything else, if that. "Look!"

Sonic walked to the back of his couch, then rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as what he saw on the screen registered.

A lady was standing in front of a map highlighting various islands in the east and cities on the Major Eastern continent. She was speaking about the strange sphere that appeared in the sky and how a smaller ship next to it was firing energy balls on cities and islands, enough energy to completely destroy them and anything close by. The highlighted dots on the map represented the places now destroyed. And they were being destroyed in a pattern, only after the sunrise in that place. Other than that, it didn't seem to matter how large or dense a city or island was, nor where it was located in latitude.

Sonic sat on the couch. "I met Eggman on South Island."

"And that was a good thing?" Tails pointed to the TV with both hands. "Sonic! This thing is destroying cities and islands by the hour! We have to stop them!"

"But how…?" Sonic finished. He put his chin in his hands.

"We already tried to fly up there, but we both know how that turned out." Tails paced the room, around and around the couch and short table.

Sonic put his feet up on the table and closed his eyes. Then he leaned his head back and watched Tails going around. "Would you please stop that? You're making it hard to think."

"Sorry." Tails sat on the little table. "What _are_ we going to do?"

And suddenly, the reporter gasped and touched her left ear. Then she started informing them about the most recent destruction, a middle sized city in Greese. A moment later, they were watching a cellphone video a bystander just sent in.

Tails gasped. The screen showed the far outskirts of a city in slow motion, the blazing ball of death fall in from the upper right corner and set fire to, if not vaporize, everything around. Just then, the sun peaked over the horizon.

The TV clicked off, and Sonic set down the remote. "Tails, our planes won't cut it. The Tornado is only half rebuilt and the Hurricane doesn't have that much in the way of weapons."

"Well, there's only so fast I can build a flying fortrace. I'm not Eggman."

Sonic's eyebrows jumped. "…flying fortrace…" He ran into the back room and grabbed his shoes. "Tails, we're going to pay a visit to our old friend."

* * *

Shadow felt just about ready to rip the head off of the man on the other side of the table and blast it against the wall to knock some sense into him. "Look! Thirty of GUN's best defense ships have already been destroyed by that thing! It levels entire cities and islands with one shot for crying out loud! If you bring me someone who has a ship that can either withstand that kind of fire power, or is maneuverable enough to avoid their secondary defenses and still have the muscle to get the job done, then maybe we can do something about this!"

The poor civilian looked to the friendly bat.

"Sorry, but I have to stick with the rule book on this one Honey." Rouge frowned. "I can't just fly up there and steal that little cannon of theirs."

"No no, you don't understand! I have a wife, and four children at home! What am I going to tell them?" he shook his head, twisting an old cloth hat in his hands.

Shadow put his fists on the table. "Tell them to get lost until this crises is over."

The man was shocked and appalled at such an answer and was about to say something when the door swung open behind him.

Sonic, Dr. Eggman, and Tails stepped inside. Sonic walked up to the table. "Counseling in session?"

Shadow punched Sonic so hand, the blue hedgehog literally flew across the room and hit the opposite wall. Shadow walked over to him. "I apologize. With the pressure the public has been putting on us, I knew you'd understand."

Sonic slowly stood up, rubbing his chest. "Oh yeah, I understand alright."

Suddenly it was Shadow's turn to fly.

"Sonic!" Tails sighed and ran in between them.

"Now we're even." Sonic shook his hand.

Rouge grabbed Shadow's arm. "Really boys! Now's not the time or the place!" she looked at the human seated at the table. "If you'd excuse us."

"No problem, I was on my way out anyway." He put on his coat and cautiously side stepped Eggman.

Rouge glared at Shadow. "Calm down."

"You are not my commanding officer."

"Neither are you mine, but we both know dealing with upset civilians is not your thing." Rouge pulled his arm to make him look at her. "Let me handle these guys, ok? If you want to throw some things around, there are plenty of barbells and treadmills in the work room two doors down."

Shadow pulled away, then stomped out to the hall.

Rouge watched him go, then looked over her shoulder. "My personal condolences about Knuckie. He was fun to play around with."

"We don't have time for that." Sonic nodded his head at Eggman, who had taken an interest in a blank wall. "Tails and I brought you someone who can and _will_ help you build a ship that can either withstand fire power like that, or be maneuverable enough to avoid the secondary defenses and still have the muscle to get the job done."

Rouge snickered.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself." Sonic smirked. "That loudmouth hothead..."

Tails smiled. "Shadow was shouting so loud, it's a wonder that these walls are still standing."

"Well," Rouge tilted her head and examined her fingertips. "You know Shadow, every once in a while he just has to blow up at something. Anyways," she looked at Eggman and raised her voice. "Eggy, let's go! There's not much time left before the next city gets destroyed, and we still need to make you a hero!"

"That's fine, as long as the rodent comes with me to help." Eggman looked at Sonic.

"Whatever! Just follow Rouge!" Sonic grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall.

Rouge showed them to the Thinking Room for the Brains, and half an hour later people were wondering why GUN hadn't hired the ex-world domineer sooner. Right before their eyes, he'd drawn up a design that combined several existing space craft, air planes, and unmanned fighter robots they had in stock. The ship on paper was large but fast, nimble but tough, and it had more than enough teeth to destroy the ship on any of three offensive strategies. In the way of weapons there were high discharge lasers, mega yield missiles, and an army of very destructive robots.

"There's only one problem." Eggman set down the pen and folded his hands behind his back. "In order to do all this, we'll need nine hours to build the ship, and up to three more hours after that to deploy and attack the other ship depending on what city they plan to fire on by then."

The GUN commander looked up at him. "Millions will all be dead by then."

"Isn't there a faster alternative?" someone asked.

"Not an effective one." Eggman shook his head slightly. "This is the best I can do!"

Sonic, who'd been standing quietly in the corner until now, finally spoke up. "What about all those massive, much more complicated than that flying fortresses you seemed to pull out of thin air on a daily basis? Those things were really annoying."

Eggman grumbled something under his breath without turning his head. "Those, Hedgehog, were works of art. They took weeks to build!"

"Irrelevant." The commander put his hands on the table. "You have six hours to build this thing and people are dying as we speak! So MOVE!"

"I said," Eggman also planted his fists on the table, directly across from the commander's. "_It will take nine hours_ to complete this ship properly!"

"You have _six_!"

* * *

A warning was sent out across the world to evacuate all major cities and spread out as thin as possible. In the meantime, pray that this sunrise isn't your last.

As for GUN and everyone involved with building Eggman's creation, things were going slower than the commander demanded. However, tasks continued a bit ahead of schedule, in the head mastermind's book, with the help of Sonic, Tails, Shadow, and Rouge. And while he hated to admit it over three months after the fact, Sonic was forced to acknowledge to himself what an artist Eggman was. Machines joined together in ways unthinkable, and all the circuit pathways were still intact. Everything in the giant hanger was fitting together like a giant jigsaw puzzle that had all the rights shapes in the pieces, just no one had thought to draw a picture for it and put it together until now.

Sonic dropped about two hundred pounds of pipes on the floor next to where Eggman was working in a critical part of the design. "Here are the reinforcements."

"Very good." He lifted the welding mask and pointed to the pipes with the welder. "Now, could you start cutting the ends off at forty five degree angles?"

Sonic shrugged. "Of course!" He picked up one of the ten pipes and set it apart from the others. He looked around to see that no one was near, then spun and cut one end of the pipe off. Sonic turned the pipe around and repeated the process.

Eggman watched him. "Excellent. Very extraordinary."

"Here's your first pipe." Sonic tossed it to him.

Eggman put his hand up and easily blocked the throw. "I don't believe I've ever taken the time to notice how skilled you are at what you do."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Sonic spun another pipe end off. "Because now's not really the time. Here you go."

Eggman blocked the toss again, landing this pipe right next to the last. "You're so effective at cutting metal apart that it's almost natural to you."

"Yeah," Sonic tossed another pipe. "And I'd bet you'd like to have me under some kind of giant microscope to figure out why. Well, let me save you the time." He moved the next pipe with his feet. "We both know the reason, and I'm looking at it." He glared at his old arch enemy.

"And to think it was that little fox pup who eventually brought me down, not you." Eggman caught the next pipe and held it up in its place. "Must have been rather embarrassing to have _Tails_ get the final victory, and people thank _you_ for it."

"So?" Sonic kicked at the growing pile of pipe ends.

"Just a little food for thought."

"What are you getting at, Egghead?" Sonic crossed his arms.

"Nothing, I just told you." Then he was silent for a while, welding the pipes into place. "The ship should be done in time to save your homeland from possible destruction."

"What are you talking about?" Sonic tossed in the last pipe.

"Christmas Island, wasn't it?"

"What about Christmas Island?" He put his fists on his hips.

"We should be able to eliminate the possibility of that particular island being destroyed." Eggman picked up another pipe. "That _is_ where you grew up, wasn't it?"

Sonic shook his head, half smirking. "I grew up fighting you."

"Don't play games with _me_, Sonic. I remember where we were when I saw you first, when that fowl bird crashed and _you_ pitifully jumped up in his place. I remember, two years later where I found you after both of you vanished while I tore that falcon to shreds. Three separate events, all about you, all on Christmas Island."

"That's only two." Sonic stared back.

Eggman pushed the welding mask up over his eyes again. "I didn't think I needed to mention… what was her name, Annie?"

Sonic picked up all the pipe ends sent them to hammerspace. "I have to take these to be recycled."

Eggman nodded. "That's what I thought."

* * *

Minutes passed until sunrise. Someone cried every time the hour changed. The commander was furiously pacing in his office, checking for progress on the warship every five minutes. "When will you slow pokes finish that thing?! People are dying!"

"Only five minutes less than the last time you asked commander," Shadow would calmly reply across the line.

Defeated, he would sit at his desk and watch the little TV and watch the news for the next four to six minutes. Although the news was depressing, there was nothing else to watch for the media had taken over all other channels. Then the sun rose outside the big open window, and the news reporters held their breaths in the impending doom that was hanging over the entire time zone.

But destruction never came.

Instantly, after about ten minutes, the news reporters exploded with hope and cries of joy. Some just sighed in relief that the destruction was over.

Shadow called from the work room. "Should we continue construction?"

"Yes." The commander nodded, even though he knew they couldn't see him. "Despite the happy courses coming from the wall in that room, we have no reason to believe that they haven't stopped entirely. Continue working on the ship."


	6. Chapter 5 The Price of Failure

The Price Of Failure

People had begun to relax. It had been two whole hours since the last city had been destroyed, but it was not to last. The world was shaken awake when Denfur cried out in agonizing pain. After that, the bombings continued.

* * *

"Well, it's no beauty, but it'll get the job done!" Eggman clapped his hands as various GUN pilots and robot technicians cleared away from a very haphazard looking warship.

"In case you haven't noticed, Doctor," Shadow crossed his arms. "You are the only one who's clapping."

"All the more reason to drown out this dreadful silence!" Eggman grinned.

Sonic groaned. "I don't know how much more happiness I can take!" He turned to leave.

"Aww, Sonic. It's not like you to ruin the moment." Eggman looked at him. "Are you still upset over that loathsome little echidna?"

"Why don't you just shut up?!" Tails glared at Eggman then ran after Sonic, following him outside. "Sonic."

"Tails." He shaded his eyes and looked east, towards a giant mass still visible in the sky. "With any luck, this'll all be over really soon."

* * *

The hanger opened its massive roof and released the constructed creature inside. The ugly, mismatched flying machine that everyone had sweated over to build rumbled upward, slowly picking up speed and glided over Sonic and Tails like a hawk in pursuit of that evil thing attacking its nest.

The battle was spectacular. Tiny shiny boomerangs flew out of the sphere like they had at the Tornado, but an automatic targeting system zapped them all away before they could even get close to the ship. Then an alien battleship flew around from the other side of the sphere, and from its cannons poured forth torrents of island devastating energy pulses, but Eggman's shields held. Little mini ships came from behind the sphere, but high yield missiles took care of those. It seemed like no time before Eggman's creation reached the offending enemy, deploying their destructive robots and pummeling it with missiles and lasers. For all of twenty minutes, both parties exchanged blinding and deafening blows on one another. Eventually the terrorist ship exploded, damaging the heroes' ship but not their escape pods. Because it had taken so much damage, that ugly creation of a few hours hard work tilted heavy end down and crashed into Mobius. The pods landed without incident, bursting open with triumphant soldiers as they softly touched the ground.

Sonic took a deep breath. "Now that's what I call a job well done!"

Tails nodded. "Yep! We did it again, Sonic. Everyone will sleep safely and happily now that that awful menace is destroyed. We done good today!"

"I couldn't agree more."

Tails yawned and stretched. "I think I'm going home for a nap."

"Yeah, home." Sonic watched him go, then he decided to leave himself. Except he ran east. Past the debris of two ships, past the plains and mountains and fields and the beach. Out onto the water. For hours, as fast as he could go, nothing but the steady ocean and the wind in his face.

Then, out in the open and alone, there appeared the tiniest speck of green on the horizon. Downunda. Just a couple more hours of running from the sun and Sonic would be home. However he was a little winded after running for so long, so he decided to take a short break and walk for a while.

If you know Sonic, there's no such thing as walking, at least not for long. Before anyone in Downunda had much of a chance to recognize him, Sonic was already splashing out on the opposite beach and onto the ocean again. One hour later he spotted the island, and changed course to approach it from the north west.

There was an old wooden dock in the northwest corner of the small island. Some people launched small boats from it. The old frog, Mudly, fished from it. Sonic just happened to use it as his favorite entrance. Once upon a time, a spot right in the middle of the dock had been reinforced for just such visits. As soon as Sonic laid eyes on the dock, he counted to ten, jumped, sailed through the air several seconds, and landed dead center on the rattling wood.

Mudly was standing at the land end of the dock. "Well," he shifted his grip on his fishing pole. "Looks like it was a good thing I went back for my bucket."

Sonic smiled at him. "Sorry if I scared you."

Mudly smiled back. "Welcome home."

"It's good to be back." Sonic waved and ran away.

Mudly the fisherman frog had always been there. He was a short little man, even a little shorter than Sonic. His mud hut had always been by the dock, and from sunup to sundown, everyday he'd been fishing on the same dock for as long as Sonic remembered. Although he was old, he was interesting to talk to. He knew a lot about the ocean, saltwater fish, the tides, and the moon. He was the one who'd shown Sonic and Annie how to know when the next full moon would be. (But come to think of it, Annie was probably just humoring a five year old.) Whenever Sonic came home, Mudly always was the first to say hello. The word "goodbye" did not seem to be in his vocabulary. All in all, it was as though Sonic had always known Mudly. It must be one of those natural friendships, the kind that are never born.

Sonic knocked on Annie's door and took a step back. Silence in the house. He stepped forward again. _Knock! Knock! Knock!_ Sonic stepped back and listened. He signed. "Oh, come on! What does it take to get ahold of someone around here?"

"One could say the same about you, kido."

Startled, Sonic spun around. "Oh, I should have figured."

There stood Annie, the tall black squirrel somewhere in her late twenties, and already having to breath with an oxygen tank. "What? That practically everyone except Mudly has been in the city?"

"I thought you snuck out the back door… you know."

"Nope. Everyone's been up all night. All the bunkers are in the city, you know." Annie took a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. "So, what's up? Besides the obvious." She glanced up towards the giant shiny sphere in the distance.

"Just wanted to say hi." Sonic held the door open while she pulled the small tank inside.

"Thank you." She started to close the door. "It was nice seeing you again." Annie paused. "Go visit your parents. You look like you could use a real hug."

Sonic waved. "I was going to, but your house was closer."

"Bye bye you little cannon ball." She closed the door.

He ran through a small town, stopping in a village on the other side. Lots of people were up for this time of day, but with the imminent crisis (now avoided), that part was understandable. Probably everyone but Mudly had gone to the city for the latest updates. Mudly was like that. Rain or shine, would be there at the dock, be it hailing (on an island?) or an earthquake (unheard of) or had a volcano erupted (impossible) or the world was under attack by aliens, (only in books, wait…) Mudly was like a clock. You could count on him to be fishing on that dock until the day he would be found dead there.

Sonic let himself into his house. "Hello? Anyone home?" he called.

No answer. No surprise.

"Well, I guess I'll make myself at home." Sonic kicked off his wet shoes and wondered through the old house. Contrary to popular belief, he actually did try to visit a couple of times a month. Sonic's friends were used to him disappearing for days at a time, probably off on some wild and crazy adventure. Yes, there were a lot of those, but most of the time he just came here. And then his parents would find bright red, wet, and dirty sneakers just inside the front door.

"I see someone got home before us," a motherly voice said.

"And forgot to wipe his feet before coming inside."

Sonic raced to the entryway. He looked at his shoes as though first noticing. "Oops."

Bernie opened her arms. "Welcome home, Sonic!"

Sonic gave his mom a big hug. "Hi."

"Ok, my turn." Jules also gave his son a decent hug. "So, how you been outside the TV box?"

Sonic grinned, "Oh, here and there."

Bernie laughed. "He said 'how' not 'where'."

"Oh," Sonic nodded. "Well, it's been good. Just saved the world."

"Again." Jules lightly put his fist against Sonic's shoulder.

"Again!" Sonic softly punched back. "And we got to celebrate Tail's birthday just… three days ago."

There was a pause. A long one. Sonic took a deep breath.

"We read the paper online." Jules put his arm around Sonic. "How about we talk this over on the couch? Man to man?"

"Yeah." Sonic nodded.

Bernie touched him on the cheek. "I'll go make us all something to eat."

"Ok Mom." Sonic followed his dad to the den. They sat on the couch.

Jules looked away for a moment. "Shall you go first of should I?"

"I'll go." Sonic took a deep breath. "We were all on Angel Island, eating cake. Tails had just opened the present I gave him when that giant shiny thing appeared in the sky. Knucks said he was going to check the Master Emerald, but I told him he was being paranoid." He sighed. "I feel like I should have insisted that he stayed. I got everyone else to safety… except him. And then, that stupid alien just had to go and look like Knuckles! Make the rest of us think he was still… and not…" He leaned forward. "I could have save him!"

They were both silent for a while. Jules looked out the window. "Sonic, death happens."

"Not like this."

"If Knuckles was too far away, there was nothing you could have done."

"No, you're wrong." Sonic stood up. "Tails could've gotten the girls to safety, I should have gone back and saved him! It's my fault Knucks is dead! Because I didn't! I didn't do anything! I got out of there as fast as I could to save my own skin."

Jules folded his hands, leaning forward and looking up. "You saved the lives of Tails, Amy, Cream, and Cheese. Not just yourself."

"Tails could have…"

"Sonic," Jules stood up beside him. "This isn't your fault. Look at me. You did what you thought was best in a dangerous and pressing situation."

He turned away. "Tell that to Knucks."

Bernie came in with three small plates, each with two celery sticks and some peanut butter. She handed the first one to Sonic. "Sonic, the past is the past, and there's no changing it. Please don't live the rest of your life thinking about what you could have done that day. Knuckles was a good friend, and he wouldn't want you regretting knowing him. Am I right?"

Sonic took the plate without looking at it. "Yes."

He could see her glance towards the couch with a certain look on her face, but Sonic just walked out to his room. He sat on his bed cross legged and finally looked at the plate. "Celery?" Sonic put the plate on a side table, laid down, and closed his eyes. He wasn't hungry anyway.

* * *

"_HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAILS!" Everyone jumped out from behind boulders and trees and bushes as Sonic pulled the bag off the guest of honor's head._

_Tails laughed and shoved him away. "I should have known! I should have known that you had to have a surprise party!"_

"_Turnabout is fair play, little bro!" Sonic twisted up the bag and snapped it at his friend. "This time, it was my turn to surprise you."_

"_I wasn't surprised."_

_Knuckles laughed. "Then what was that, 'Oh I should have known,' all about?"_

"_Maybe he's surprised we didn't surprise him sooner!" Amy put her arms around Sonic's neck._

"_Naw," Tails smiled. "I'm surprised that Sonic actually put me in that bag and said I was being kidnapped."_

"_I had to do something to make you come!" Sonic unfolded Amy's hands from on his chest. "Cream's cake was just too epic to not have a party that it went with."_

_Amy tried again to hug him, but Sonic gently held her at arm's distance._

_Knuckles laughed at them. "Watching you two is more fun than fighting Eggman ever was!"_

_Amy giggled. "Really?"_

"_I'm glad you think so," Sonic frowned at him sarcastically. He glanced at the table where Cream was showing Tails the cake._ _"Look!" Sonic pointed at the them. "Birthday boy took the first bite!"_

"_Nice try, Sonic!" Amy twirled away from his hand and spun into a hug._

"_I'll race you for the second piece."_

"_You're on!" Amy suddenly ran to the table._

_Sonic and Knuckles both laughed._

_Amy turned around. "Hey! Sonic! You said you'd race me!"_

"_Knucks," Sonic saluted with two fingers. "It looks like I've gotta run."_

"_Good luck, not that you'll need it." Knuckles patted him on the back._

"_Oh, you'll need it alright!" Amy took out her hammer and charged._

_Sonic jumped into the bushes and put his arm around a tree to swing around. He snuck back to the other side of the table and quietly came out from the trees._

_Amy grumbled. "Why does he have to do that?"_

"_Amy, he's Sonic," Tails explained._

"_Let's not make this day all about me, ok?"_

_They all turned around. Sonic was on the other side of the table. "Today is all about the best sidekick a guy could ask for!"_

_Amy was about to throw her hammer, but Sonic ran forward and grabbed it out of her hand._

"_Hey, hey, hey!" He tossed it down, where it disappeared. "You'll wreck that awesome cake if you do that."_

_Amy laughed and threw her arms around him. "Sonic, you're the best!"_

_Cheese popped out of a present and blew a horn in Tails's face. Amy laughed and put an ice cream cone on his head. She gave another one to Knuckles, and he used it as a telescope to look at the moon. The moon had become huge in the sky, the size of a soccer ball at arm's length. It had also melted, giving it a silver shine._

"_Let's go look at it from the Master Emerald!" Knuckles closed his telescope and put it on Sonic's head._

"_Naw, I'm going to stay here and protect Tails and the girls."_

"_You wimp!" Knuckles gave him a friendly punch. "Running at the first sign of trouble! Come on, let's go have some fun!"_

"_It's just as fun here." Sonic shook his head. "Please stay here, Knuckles."_

"_Only if you come and die with me." Knuckles held up his fist._

"_Dude, I can't do that! What will happen to Tails and the others?"_

_Knuckles straightened up. "Then I guess I have to do this alone."_

"_Don't go, Knucks!"_

"_I must."_

"_Why?"_

_Knuckles turned around. "Because of you."_

* * *

Sonic woke with a start. When his mind finally brought him back to the here and now, he glanced at the clock. 6:58 am. _Did I really sleep for… what was it…_ he couldn't remember the time he'd gone to bed. He did remember that it was morning here by then, and it was almost morning now.

The peanut buttered celery had disappeared, and Sonic now found himself under the covers. Obviously his parents were trying their best to make him feel better. He was willing to bet that he could find cold chilly dogs in the fridge.

Suddenly, Sonic felt as though he couldn't stay there any longer. He had to leave, the sooner the better. So he got up and found his shoes by the front door, strapped them on, opened the door, and went outside.

In the crisp, moist air, not a creature peeped. It was so quiet, you could imagine hearing the small waves lapping on the beach. The wind held its breath. There was a graying over the small horizon. Everything was waiting to come alive with the sun's first touch.

Sonic ran north, slower and quieter than usual so as not to disturb whatever magic was holding Christmas Island in this peaceful trance. Peaceful. Sonic was the farthest state from being peaceful. That's why he had to leave.

When he reached the dock, a light flickered on inside Mudly's hut. Mudly was probably just getting up with the sun. Sonic sped up and ran off the beach and onto the water right as the first morning lark whistled. It was particularly cold out on the ocean in the early morning, but after the sun would come up, things would start to get warmer. And Sonic ran east to go west.

It would already be almost noon, where everyone else was. Sonic wondered what-

A deafening explosion jolted Sonic into the air. Then a massive wave swallowed him up and carried him away… away… away to the nearest island where he clung to a tree for dear life, coughing up salty ocean water. After a while, someone came up to him.

"You alright son?" the kangaroo asked.

Sonic coughed again and took a breath of sweet air. "Yeah. What happened?"

He stood up. "See for yourself," and pointed to a smoldering column of black smoke on the ocean.

It took a minute for that sight to sink in. Sonic frowned and gritted his teeth. "Back off."

"Ok," the kangaroo took two giant steps back.

"AAAHHHGGG!" Sonic punched the tree he had clung to until it bent over, then he tore it up from the stump and threw it into the ocean. He curled up tight and cried. _Everyone… The whole island… Gone…_

"Can I… get you anything?" the kangaroo glanced out at the broken tree.

"Go. Just go." Sonic curled up tighter. "And don't tell my friends where I am."


	7. Chapter 6 Acid Rain

Acid Rain

"WHAT HAPPENED!? WHAT HAPPENED!?" Shadow shoved his way through the crowded halls to GUN's central command.

"Their attacking again!" Rouge's frantic voice echoed back over the com link. "Christmas Island was destroyed just ten minutes ago!"

Shadow pushed another poor someone out of his way to the door and performed a mini Chaos Control to get inside without opening it. "_I know_ about the attack. _I want to know_ how they got another ship so fast!"

The TV feeds had gone static. The Gun Commander was on the phone with someone, possibly the president. Eggman was staring vacantly out the closed curtains. Rouge put her radio away and handed a piece of paper to Shadow.

"There was another ship identical to the first behind that huge sphere. We couldn't see it until a little while ago."

Shadow eyed the paper. It was an x ray of the sphere, in which you could see the ship on the far side. "What happened to the ship WE destroyed?!"

Rouge shook her head. "Not a trace. No bulkheads, no bodies, not even a speck of dust. When it exploded, everything appeared to have vaporized. A minute later, our scanners showed that the sphere grew in mass, but only for a moment."

Shadow looked up at her again. "How much mass?"

"About as much as it takes to build a ship like that." She glanced at Eggman, then lowered her voice. "It appears that more is going on than what meets the eye."

Shadow crinkled the picture in his left hand, glaring at Eggman. "Doctor."

"Excuse me, Shadow. I'm in deep contemplation." Other than that, Eggman didn't even twitch.

_Flash!_ Shadow appeared in front of Eggman and pulled his head down to eye level, a hand on either side of the scientist's head. "What are they?! TELL ME!"

Eggman sat on the floor, angry. "If you wanted to know what I know so badly, why don't you go to my hideout and see for yourself?"

Shadow began to slowly pour his full strength into his hands.

"Owe! OK, STOP!" Eggman grimaced. "Just let me go!"

"Shadow!" The Commander hung up the phone. "Stop that at once!"

He let go of Eggman's head. "Speak, or suffer the consequences."

"Very well." Eggman stood up. "They're shape shifters."

"Tell us something we don't know, Eggy." Rouge crossed her arms.

"If you'd let me continue!" Eggman glared at her. "They are extremely intelligent, acid based, liquid life forms with the ability to copy any living thing with just a touch."

"What do you mean, copy?" The Commander asked.

"With just one touch, one of these beings will know all that you know." Eggman put his hand on the Commander's shoulder. "If I was one of them, I would now have all your memories, know all your thoughts, favorites, secrets, and strategies. I could melt, and conform myself to your shape so perfectly, not even an MRI could tell the difference between our bodies. Why, I could also assimilate your personality and motives as well! In essence, one of these creatures could become you if it was able to touch you."

"Touch telepaths," Shadow murmured.

"Exactly." Eggman nodded to Shadow. "And my theory is that because they live together in one big blob, as soon as one touches you and takes themselves back to the sphere…"

"Then every single last one of them could be me…" Rouge shivered.

"Who said anything about you?" Commander asked.

"No one." Rouge shook her head. "But I remember meeting one that was pretending to be Knuckie, before we all knew Knuckie really was dead."

"You let one touch you?" Shadow looked at Rouge.

"There's no changing that now." Eggman crossed his arms. "What we have to do now is find a way to keep these monsters from destroying any more cities or islands."

"Let me guess, you have a plan." Shadow frowned at Eggman.

He nodded at the little black hedgehog. "If we make another ship to destroy the one up there…"

"Oh, get to the real plan already Eggy!" Rouge flew up on the desk. "We all know what happened last time. If we send more good men up there, more good men will die without purpose! These acid creatures will just make, I mean, turn into another ship."

"I was getting to that!" Eggman looked at Shadow again. "I assume you can operate the Eclipse Cannon by yourself?"

"I will need all the Chaos Emeralds."

The Commander put his hand on Eggman's shoulder. "You are _not_ sending one of GUN's top agents on a suicide mission."

Shadow growled. "I'm the Ultimate Lifeform! I can't die! You mortal humans seem to keep forgetting that!" He turned to Eggman. "Do you know where the Chaos Emeralds are?"

"Sonic has them."

"All of them?" Rouge jumped down. "How do you know?"

"Because just a couple days ago, my instruments recorded a spike in Chaos Energy so big, it could only have been Sonic, if it wasn't you." Eggman nodded.

Shadow cursed. "No one has seen or heard from Sonic since yesterday. He could be anywhere!" He looked at Eggman. "I need an artificial source of Chaos Energy if I am to find him."

Eggman smiled. "Follow me."

* * *

Sonic pushed a tiny sand crab around with his finger, thinking about the dead and living.

_Flash!_

"I'm not in the mood for company, Shadow." Sonic flicked the crab into the water.

"All I need are the Chaos Emeralds. No one else has to die today." Shadow stepped closer.

Sonic summoned the Chaos Emeralds, letting them spin around his head. "Here you go."

They disappeared again. "Chaos Control!" _Flash!_

* * *

Shadow appeared in the control center of the cold, empty, ARK. Even after all these years, the old space station still felt like a sacred tomb sometimes. He started to look around but shook his head. _No time to get nostalgic now!_ He entered a code into the panel to wake up the computer.

* * *

What is this? A ship in orbit powering up?

Looks like it.

How did it get there so fast?! Why didn't we see it!?

No clue. Better tell the boss man.

* * *

One by one, Shadow plugged the Chaos Emeralds into the Eclipse Cannon. "Blue, for the islands you destroyed. White, for the city lights now put out permanently. Yellow, because you destroyed them at dawn. Red, for Knuckles and Angel Island. Green, for the Master Emerald. Purple, for the safety of a better tomorrow." Shadow looked at the last one, thinking of something to say. "And Cyan, because it is Maria's wish." He entered in the final codes and positioned himself at the observation window, trigger in hand.

Mobius slowly twisted to the side, and a giant metallic sphere about a third the size of the moon, and a ship, tiny beside the blob in comparison, loomed ahead out the wide window. Shadow pushed the button. "Sayonara, you accursed monsters!"

The long pointy nose of ARK grew a ball of dangerous radiation at the end, being fed by seven different ports around an outer circle. In ten seconds, the aliens wouldn't know what hit them.

Then the mini ship in the window began firing on ARK. Energy bolts with enough punch to take out cities and islands began raining on the hull. Shadow smiled. _Gerald build this armor to last._

But then a warning siren screamed from the computer. Shadow turned around and saw "**REACTOR BREACH IMMINENT! ALL HANDS TO EMERGENCY ESCAPE PODS!**"

A thousand things rushed through Shadow's mind. Last time the reactor core was about to breach, ARK was hurtling towards Mobius and Gerald's last words of doom were echoing across all of civilization. The Chaos Energies were reacting at a rate much too powerful for the reactor to contain, and only because either the reactions were purposely sabotaged, or the reactor itself had been damaged. There wasn't any time to repair it. Shadow had to do something _now_ or the entire solar system could be destroyed. It seemed as if aliens had given him a choice. Shadow could either allow that to happen, or he could take the Chaos Emeralds out now, sparing the planet, but possibly not irradiating the sphere as thoroughly as he'd hoped. Either way, ARK would be nothing more than space dust in less than a minute.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" Shadow threw the Chaos Emeralds around the room, simultaneously teleporting himself to the escape pods. He pushed the button for pot five, time delay ten seconds, and cranked the lever down. Shadow skated inside the pod and hurriedly pulled the switch to close the tube, but it was stuck.

The station shook as the cannon fired. Six seconds left. Shadow jumped up the shaft and forced the tube free. Instantly it was around him.

"Shadow!"

"Maria?" Shadow saw her standing beside the ejection controls. "No! I must be hallucinating!"

"Shadow, for all the people on that planet!" she cried. "Thank you! Thank you for giving them a chance to be happy!"

Shadow closed his eyes and said it with his memories. "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog."

The pod clicked and shot out of the station. Half a second later, ARK exploded. Shadow found himself with a front seat view of the moon being blown to pieces. Then the shockwave hit, bashing him against the side of the stasis tube. After things had settled a bit, Shadow looked at Mobius. It was night time. Half an hour later, he saw daylight. Another hour later, and he was back on the night side. He cursed.

"Of course! The explosion must have majorly altered the trajectory of the pod! Erg! That is, AFTER I turned that crate around!" Shadow floated in the tube. "Normally, I'd have been home an hour ago! Now, there's no telling when this tube will land." He sighed. "Days, months… years…"

Shadow switched on the stasis unit at his head. "At least I can skip the wait."

* * *

From the ground, six seconds after the Eclipse Cannon had fired, ARK exploded. Projections had clearly shown that such fire power would easily kill the shape shifters (according to Eggman), but for reasons unknown, the sphere was only split into tiny drops. These tiny drops descended on the planet like rain, slowly, so that no two drops landed in the same area.

The report in her hand had a heading that read, "Shadow: MIA". Rouge kept it with her as she explained to Omega about what happened. ARK, the sphere being broken up instead of vaporized as promised, and how now their team had been reduced.

Omega was silent the whole time until she finished. "**Why do I have no recollection of previous events since this date four months ago?**"

"Because you caught the virus Tails used to defeat Dr. Eggman. The virus targeted Eggman robots and changed their behavior to be similar to yours, but because you already had such behavior, it simply erased your programing. We haven't been able to get you back until now. Good thing you memories are still intact, otherwise, I don't know _what_ I'd do." Rouge sniffed a bit.

Omega computed this for a while. "**It is conceivable that although Shadow is immortal, he might not be indestructible. However, if he was able to get to an escape pod it time, it is also conceivable that his pod was damaged on the way out, resulting in our inability to detect it. If this is the case, Shadow could be back to Mobius in a day or two.**"

Rouge smiled. "You know, you might not be programmed for comforting people, but you sure know how to use cold, emotionless logic to make a gal feel better. Thanks, Omega."

"**You are welcome, Rouge.**"

* * *

The tides had died with the moon. Tails landed on the nearly empty beach, glad to have finally found his best friend. "Sonic! Everyone's been looking all over for you! What happened to you?"

Sonic glanced towards Tails in the star light. "The world ended."

"What makes you say that?"

He pointed out over the ocean. "Look. What do you see?"

Tails gazed at the horizon. "I don't see anything."

"And there you have it." Sonic nodded. "The world has come to an end."

"Why?" Tails looked at him, worried now. "What's out there?"

"Nothing." Sonic dumbly nodded again. "Not anymore."

"What was there?"

Sonic sighed. "An island. Christmas Island. But it's gone now. The aliens blew it up."

Tails looked towards where the island had been. "What made Christmas Island so special? Was it some magical place…"

Sonic laughed. "Snow on the ground? Perfect cedar trees? Red and green lights everywhere all year? Happy people singing carols?" He snorted. "You don't know how many times I've heard that." Sonic flopped back on the sand. "Tails, I grew up on Christmas Island."

Tails looked down. "Oh, I… I didn't know." He wondered what he would feel like if his home and family had suddenly been destroyed. If he had a real family, or a place to truly go back to and call home. _My friends are my family, and they are my home._ Then something clicked. All those times Sonic would disappear, sometimes he was very tight mouthed about it, at other times he came back with souvenirs for everyone. _Well, that explains a lot._

"Tails, do you remember you parents?"

"Not much." Tails joined Sonic on the sand. "I don't remember much from before we met, except running from Eggman."

"Do you miss them?"

He thought about his parents, but nothing came up immediately to bother him. "I… I guess not. They were both killed when I was very little."

Sonic plucked a piece of sand grass nearby. "Maybe it's better for you that way, not knowing so not missing."

Tails sat up. _Sonic, you're starting to scare me._ "Let's go home Sonic. It's really getting cold out here."

"It's not cold." Sonic twirled the grass in his fingers.

"What are you talking about? I'm freezing!" Tails shivered, fluffing out his fur. "And I've got less to complain about than you."

"I'm _not_ cold."

"Well, then…" Tails tried to think of something to interest Sonic. "I know I haven't eaten since breakfast. If you're hungry, we could go to my place and whip up some chili dogs."

"I'm not hungry."

Tails stared at the rippling beach for a minute. "You don't plan on staying out here all night, do you?"

Sonic looked at him and shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because we'll both freeze to death if we do!" Tails shivered again.

Sonic sighed. "Tails, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but right now, I'd just like to be left alone."

_He's not going to come with me unless I force him to come._ A plan instantly formed itself in Tails's mind. Then he wondered how long Sonic had been on this beach. "Ok Sonic. I'm out of here." He stood up and flew away without waiting for reply.

The sand on this beach was fine with zero pebbles or rocks. Perfect. Tails flew up the dune and towards solid ground where he'd landed the Tornado. In the storage box, he found a long heavy wrench. Perfect.

Tails quietly walked back up to Sonic.

"Come back to say goodbye?" Sonic asked.

He cringed. "Sonic… I'm sorry."

"For what?" He started to look over his shoulder.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Tails threw the wrench as hard as he could. Like lightning, Sonic was on his feet and his hand was in the air around the wrench. Tails could see his friend look at it, but then Sonic put his hand to his head and fell over in the sand.

"For being your best friend."


	8. Chapter 7 Healing

Healing

"Oh my!" Cream and Cheese helped Tails take Sonic out of the Tornado. "It looks like he's out cold. What happened to him, Tails?"

"I'm not exactly sure." Tails helped Vanilla carry the fainted hero into her house. "I found him on a beach in Downunda. I think he was there for a while, something about being there since Christmas island was destroyed. He wouldn't come with me, so I…" he blushed, embarrassed. "I threw a wrench at him."

Vanilla wrinkled her forehead. "I hope you didn't hurt him."

"Not a chance." Tails shook his head. "You know Sonic, he'd never let anything hit him like that. It took less time for him to stand up and catch it than it takes to turn on a light. But just as fast, he fell over."

They put Sonic on the couch. He cracked his eyes open and struggled to focus on Tails. "You threw a stick at me."

"Um, it wasn't a stick, but yeah." Tails took a step back.

"Then what was it? A rock that looked like a stick?" Sonic's eyes closed and he fell asleep.

"Something like that." Tails sighed. "We also had that exact same conversation on the way here."

"Chao chao, chao?" Cheese asked, patting Sonic on the head.

"I don't know, Cheese." Cream half closed her own eyes and tilted her chin down.

Vanilla picked her daughter up in her arms. "It looks like bed time."

Cream nodded, then looked over her mother's shoulder at Tails. "I'm sorry, Tails. No one has had much sleep recently," She finished closing her eyes, finishing her sentence in a dreamy state as she was carried out of the room.

When she came back, Vanilla found Tails curled up on the stuffed chair. She smiled. "It certainly looks like bed time for everyone."

* * *

"_Good think I went back for my buck!"_

"_Sore I scared you?"_

"_The well came home."_

"_It was good to have a home! What does it take to grab ahold of someone around here?"_

"_Number one could say two same."_

"_I guess I should have figured my numbers. More than one door. Leave by twos shoes."_

"_You look like you could use a strangling."_

"_Your shack is closing in on me."_

"_By the wayside, Cannon Ball!"_

"_Anyone home? Yeah, me. I'm home." __HOME __HOLE __HOME __HOLE __HOME __HOLE __HOLE_

"_FIRE IN THE HOME! NOW YOU ARE A HOLE!"_

"_A dead home. An empty hole. Dead. Empty. Home. Hole. Ocean. Water. Watery grave. Home Key. Gone. All Gone."_

Sonic regained true consciousness to the sickening smell of fresh pancakes. And honey. And maple syrup. And peanut butter.

_Peanut butter._ Sonic thought of the celery sticks he'd taken and then rejected. He wished he could go back to sleep. But the voices wouldn't let him go back to sleep. The voices wouldn't be recognized, yet they kept talking about familiar things. They talked about a friend named Sonic, and what they could do to help him, and if cheese made a good mix with milk and honey. The voices walked about a room, but not the same room. No, wait. One voice with footsteps came closer and closer and _clink!_

Next to him, Sonic heard something made of… something heavy, but not metal… anyway, it had just been set on a surface near him, maybe a side table, or something. Then the voice with the footsteps walked away. As for the… the thing, it smelled like water.

He gave up on thinking. When Sonic finally peaked, the first thing he saw was a glass of water. It was sitting on a side table by the bed he was in. He didn't know where he was. What room of what house he was in. Who were these voices? They couldn't be trusted. And because one of them gave him the water, the water shouldn't be trusted either. Who knows? It was probably poisoned.

Sonic pushed the blankets back and discovered that his 'hosts' had taken the liberty of 'borrowing' his special shoes. He knew it was useless to look for them. Sonic had to take action _now_! That is, if he should survive to escape this deceptively homey place.

Poisonous water in one hand, Sonic used the rubber sole a shoe he found in the closet to open the door. The handle could be electrified. Then he stuck down the hall, towards the voices.

"I wonder if Mr. Sonic is awake."

"I put a glass of water on the table, but he hasn't woken up yet."

_Some friends you are!_ Sonic quickly jumped around the corner of the hall and slipped on the hard wood floor when he saw who the enemies were.

"Sonic!" Tails jumped up from the table and ran to his side. "Good morning!"

"Chao!" Cheese clapped.

"Good morning Mr. Sonic!" Cream smiled from her seat. "How to you feel?"

He looked down. "Foolish." The water was all over the floor now, and the only socks he had were now soaked. Good thing the glass didn't break. "Tired. I guess I was sleep walking, because I thought… I thought…" Sonic looked at the shoe in his hand. It was his own. "I just feel very tired and foolish."

"That's ok, Sonic." Tails helped him stand. "Want some breakfast?"

"Naw, I'm not hungry."

Vanilla walked in carrying a big stack of pancakes. "Well good morning Sonic! Do join us?"

Sonic shook his head. "I really must be going."

"But why?!" Cream frowned and her face melted.

Meanwhile, Tails's expression hardened. "Sonic, if you try to run away, I'll just run after you and bring you back!"

Sonic laughed. "As if you could."

"Wana bet?"

Two seconds later, Tails grabbed Sonic just before he reached the front door. He dragged him back and pushed him into a chair at the dining table. "Sonic, eat!"

"Fine!" He took up the fork and cut up a pancake in seconds, but after the first bite, he had to drink the whole glass of water.

"I'll go get you more!" Cream bounced out of her chair and took Sonic's glass to the kitchen.

Tails spread his first pancake with peach jam. "You going to eat that thing dry?"

Sonic looked at him. "Did you not just watch me drink that whole cup?"

"Whatever you do, don't drink too much at once." Vanilla opened the peanut butter jar and proceed to spread the contents on her own pancake. "You've been dehydrated for a while, so you need to be careful."

"Here you go!" Cream carefully put Sonic's glass beside his plate.

"Thanks." He watched a mother's hands, spreading peanut butter on food to be eaten, and not abandoned. Sonic took another sip and finished his pancake, the smell of peanut butter haunting him.

Cheese helped himself to another tiny pancake (the tiny ones made in his honor) and smothered it with maple syrup and honey mixed in a sickeningly sweet blend. The little chao looked up and caught Sonic looking at him. "Chao chao?" Cheese pushed the honey bottle an inch towards Sonic, a question on his little face.

Cream giggled. "Cheese, Sonic doesn't even have a pancake!"

"He's just trying to be generous!" Tails licked his plate.

"As generous as he was with _his_ toppings?" Sonic snickered.

Vanilla smiled. "The combinations Cheese makes at breakfast time do tend to be rather interesting."

There was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Cream popped up and ran to the door. "It's Amy! Hello Amy!"

"Hi Cream!" Amy took a deep breath. "Mmm… Smells like breakfast."

"Come in and join us!" Cream stepped aside.

"Chao chao!" Cheese waved from the table.

Amy giggled. "I just ate, but I have time. I heard that you guys found Sonic."

"I'm here." Sonic lifted his hand.

"Sonic!" Amy grinned and hurried inside. She sat in Cream's chair. "I was so worried about you!"

"Who hasn't been?" he asked sarcastically.

"I don't know. The TV networks are down…"

"The TVs broke?" Sonic jumped up and went to the room where the TV was.

"Sonic?" Amy followed him.

"Don't bother, Sonic dear." Vanilla picked up her plate and she and Cream went after them. "Since yesterday, the TV will play movies and things we have, but nothing is being aired anymore."

Sonic turned on the TV to channel seven, the News, and took a step back. Static. "How odd. Those wind bags _always_ have something to say about us."

"None of the other regular channels work either, Mr. Sonic." Cream folded her hands in front of her.

"Tails?" Sonic called.

"Don't even ask," Tails answered, enjoying his jammed pancake too much to bother. "Every single last television or radio I've looked at, including that one, was perfectly fine. I think they all went out at the same time because the biggest transmission satellite for this half of the world was knocked out when the aliens fell."

"The aliens _fell_?" Sonic stared at the TV. "Shadow told me they'd be destroyed if I gave him the Chaos Emeralds."

"That's right." Amy nodded, and turned off the TV. "Shadow used them to fire the Eclipse Cannon at the aliens."

"Such a blast should have destroyed them for good!" Sonic smashed a fist into his other hand.

"Vaporized them, even." Tails finished his breakfast and joined everyone (except for Cheese) in the den. "But for some reason, it didn't. One little image shows that one ship firing on ARK as the energy was building up. Everyone's best guess is that the reaction chamber was damaged somehow and Shadow removed the Chaos Emeralds before the uncontrolled explosion would destroy the entire system."

"But," Sonic thought about all this. "How could the Cannon fire if the reactor was damaged?"

"It didn't." Cream ran to the window and pointed up. "See the stars Mr. Sonic?"

"Cream, it's nine thirty I the morning and you want me to look at stars?" Sonic went over to the window. "Wow! There _are_ stars out. How?"

"They're not real stars." Tails looked down. "When ARK exploded, it took out the moon." He looked up. "You had a pretty good view of it all on that beach. How could you not notice?"

"I have no idea." Sonic shook his head.

All was quiet for a while. Sonic blinked. "Wait. In all that, what happened to Shadow?"

Tails shook his head sadly. "No one really knows. It's possible he had time to get to an escape pod. We can't know for sure. When they got hit by the explosion, the aliens split apart like when you hit a bunch of little marbles with one big marble. Being liquid, they kinda turned into rain drops. Most of them are still in orbit, but some of them have come close enough to get hit by the satellites. Eggman told us that they are acidic based life forms, and when you put acid onto metal…"

"Hence the no good TV channels." Sonic frowned. "What else have I missed?"

"Not much." Amy put her elbow on the window sill. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

Molly stumbled through this forest of despicable plants. They were everywhere, surrounding her, looming over her, and so far she hadn't found an escape yet. Alone. She was alone for the first time in her young life. _Not even another seventy cycles could have prepared me for these, these empty feelings!_ If her species could cry, this would be a rain forest by now.

Lost. Alone. Lonely. Molly paused and slowly turned around. It was quiet. The trees around her seemed to reach into the clouds. So heavy were they on such a proportionally small speck of dust, on this Mobius. Barely ten square feet of foot space for each one, and each one looked to be a mile high. They were giants, threatening to topple over on top of her like dominoes and crush her mass a thousand feet below ten thousand of themselves. _Monsters!_ She had to get away! Molly wondered if she knew of anything that could fly.

_Ridiculous! I'm no scout! I can't change forms with the wind! I... What is that?_ Molly spotted a new organism that hadn't been there before. It moved by itself, turning its head to look at her. Then it alighted from the bush, and swiftly flew away.

"WAIT!" Molly chased after it, flapping her own arms and trying to make herself to look just like it. Sadly, her new form lacked any physical hardware that would normally come naturally to an adult who'd just made contact with such a creature. Well, she hadn't exactly made physical contact with it, but she'd seen it. Molly didn't have the training to be a scout. She should have never tried. She changed herself back to mimic what she'd been before, a creature with long slender legs and a pattern of fur that looked like spots of light on the forest floor. "Don't go," she softened her voice in the already silent woods. "I need you."

But the bird came back. It flew up into her face then settled on the ground. Then its bright blue feathers turned shiny silver, and that tiny thing expanded into a full grown adult human. "Little girl, are you one of me?"

Molly nodded and touched her hand, transforming into the exact same woman, whose name was Amanda. "Yes. Can you help me? I can't seem to find a way out of this dreadful place!"

"Hush young one, I'll take care of you." Amanda touched Amanda's cheek, and all her scouting knowledge and experiences flooded into her.

Amanda grinned. "Thanks. I don't know what I would have done without you, I mean, if we hadn't found each other."

"Shhh… That doesn't matter anymore. But listen. Do you know what's happened? Do you understand what was done to us?"

Amanda shook her head. "No. I was unconscious."

"Let me tell you. We were attacked and separated. Everyone is now alone. Do you like being alone?"

"It's torture! How do you scouts survive being alone for solar cycles on end?!"

Amanda brushed the girl's hair back. "We handle it because we were trained to. Now listen, we are now on the enemy's biosphere, and we can't get back together until we find the others. We all got separated when someone attacked us. Now think of everyone else who is still alone."

Amanda's borrowed face wrinkled in pain. "Ah, it must be horrible!"

"The enemy split us up on purpose, they drove us apart from one another to separate children from their siblings, babies from their parents."

"THAT'S MONSTROUS! Who would do such a thing!?"

"Our enemies are monsters. They are not like you and I. They don't even use most of their brains. They are stupid creatures indeed. And they don't deserve to keep this biosphere. Not after the sins they committed against the children and babies."

Amanda nodded. "I understand."

"I knew you would. Now, shall we take wing?"

Both women melted into twin birds, then spread their wings and flew away to exact justice for the lonely children.


	9. Chapter 8 Ashes of War

Ashes Of War

Late spring was in the air, with a hint of early summer. It was the time of year that schools let out and children could be seen playing in the fields. The most favored part of the year by the majority of people. That is, if there didn't happen to be killer aliens about and unaccounted for.

Internet still worked, if you were going from a local network. On the internet there could be found lists of the accumulating names of the dead, alphabetized by location and last name. Right next to the dead list was its cousin, the list of missing people assumed dead.

Wednesday would be a global wide day of memorial, and a time to bury friends in the dirt forever. Wednesday was also the one week anniversary of Tails's birthday party.

* * *

Sonic knocked on Tails's door and waited for him to come out.

Tails looked at the small decorated box Sonic carried. "What's that?"

"Knuckles. Come on." Sonic held out his free hand. "Let's go get the girls."

They collected Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Vanilla. When they got to their spot in the cemetery, the Chaotix waved, even Mighty, and a few minutes later, Rouge arrived as well. "I have feelings too," she defended herself, "and Knuckie was always good for a laugh."

It wasn't much. Just a small slab of polished granite with this engraved on it.

Knuckles the Echidna

Guardian and Friend

9/3227 — 4/3235

And beside it was a small hole, big enough for a decorated box of ashes.

With everyone gathered in a large circle, Sonic knelt and gently set the box in the bottom of the hole. "Knucks, you were probably the toughest one of us here. You could take a hit like nobody's business. And I know you and I rubbed each other the wrong way a few times, but I don't think I'll ever find another fighting partner like you." He stood up and took a step back.

They went around the circle. Tails was next. "Knuckles, I've always respected you for how you could guard the Master Emerald and Angel Island, rain or shine, from anything or anyone, even us. You know, when Sonic and I first met you. After you cooled down, we did some great stuff together. And yeah, you got tricked a few times, but I just want to say… You always did what was right, in the end. I'll never forget you."

Amy took her turn. "I always loved the way Angel Island was open to us as friends, and I will never forget all those amazing privet parties we had there. The fun we had with you… If not for you, none of us would ever have had an escape from the news media circus." She tossed in a red rose and gave Cream a hug.

Cream blinked her eyes really fast, trying to keep her eyes free of tears. "Mr. Knuckles, I always thought of you sort of like a big brother to me. Cheese thinks so too."

"Chao chao."

"And you were always so nice, and so caring, and you always saw the good in everyone, and you even taught me a little about the flowers on your island, the special ones that didn't grow anywhere else in the world. Well, I brought you some, from the seeds you gave me a while ago. Here," Cream laid a beautiful bouquet of exotic flowers next to Amy's rose. "They're to remind you of home."

Vanilla patted Cream's head. "Knuckles, thank you for helping watch over my daughter when I needed it. Thank you for everything. We'll all miss you."

Vector and the Chaotix all put their fists over their hearts and bowed in unison. "Knuckles old man, we'll always remember you as the one who rounded us up and put us together."

"You made us who we are," Espio added.

"Knuckles, you 'da man!" Charmy rubbed his eyes.

"And not a single one of us regret an instant we had with you," Mighty finished.

"I know it's not much," Rouge fingered a thumb sized pearl, then tossed it in with the flowers. "It didn't coast much at all, it was a seal." She paused, but no one took the bait. "But I picked it out with you in mind. And here's one for Shadow too, wherever he is." She added in a good sized diamond. "Both you boys are still priceless to me."

"Needless to say, we all already miss you." Sonic set a small sheet of plywood over the hole.

"And I have something to say."

Everyone looked, and there stood the form of one they knew so well, yet had just laid to rest. The alien saw their angry faces. "I'm not here for a fight, I just wanted your friend to know how much it meant to me to get to know you all. He's the one who made it possible for me…"

"Get out of here." Sonic glared at it. "Now."

"Come over here and make me, Freaky Feet!" It irreverently sneered.

Tails put his hand on Sonic's shoulder but it was much too late for that. Sonic shook him off and charged after the alien. With it not having time to transform, the alien wasn't too hard to catch, but fighting with it felt wrong. It was wearing Knuckles's face, and therefore possessed all his strength, but most of his skill and attitude seemed to be based on Sonic, and it felt wrong fighting a version of himself that looked like Knucks.

Over the fence, past the woods, and into some dusty cliff area. Sonic caught up to it, and with a single leap had his hands under its chin. "You murderer! You killed millions of innocent people! You destroyed defenseless cities and harmless islands!"

"People?" Its head melted slightly and slithered out of Sonic's grasp. "You think I think of you as '_people_'? I used to think your planet was pleasing to the eye, not _you_! 'People' depends on your perspective. All you unintelligent yet sentient lifeforms are not like us at all. To us, you are all just in the way."

Sonic caught it in a double hug, locking his arms and legs around it and bashing its body into the ground with every breath. "Monster! You haven't even opened your eyes to see what's been in front of you from the very first time you set slime on Mobius! WE DON'T ALL LOOK ALIKE! You call me unintelligent! Well, look at yourself! But you are right about one thing, I'm not like you. I don't classify others as sub people status just because they're not hedgehogs!"

"Oh," it raised a calm eyebrow and looked at him. "Does that mean I'm part of your 'people' definition? I'm not a 'monster', as you said?"

Sonic just glared back.

"Then prove it, _person_! Show me some decency!"

"I'm going to take you to court where you will stand a fair trial and pay for the crimes you and your buddies committed against Mobius!"

Its face saddened. "So much for not being a monster." It liquefied its upper body.

Instantly, Sonic's arms were enveloped in agony like fire. He pulled back without crying out and examined the new chemical burns to be found there.

"Oh, didn't like that, did we?" The monster alien reformed into a mirror of Sonic. "Wait… You know something. You know the man who killed our ambassador!"

Every little move stung and the dusty air made it worse, but Sonic was half glad to see that his skin was mostly still intact. He clenched his jaw and forced himself to look at that, that thing over there. Correction, he glared at it. Glaring was much more satisfying. "What in the world are you talking about?"

It tilted its head back and tapped its chin. "Oh, what was that silly pet name you called him? 'Egghead'? Yes, that was the name!"

"What about Eggman?"

"What's his name, Tails! He told you that Eggman had explained something about us." It snickered. "He told you that we were made of a chemical you call acid, but you didn't believe him!" This time, it threw its head back and laughed. Long and obnoxiously loud. "Sonic my friend, you have some serious trust issues."

"I do not! I'd trust my life…"

"To any and or all of your friends?" It lifted its chin. "But's that's as far as you'll go. You didn't trust Tails, and he turned out to be right! Didn't he?"

Sonic nodded. "Yes."

"But before that, you didn't trust the Knucks man either. He also turned out to be right, but you didn't trust him! And we _all_ know what happened _then_."

"Shut up or I'll…!" Sonic raised a fist to attack but almost fell to the ground with the pain of doing so.

"Or what? You'll punch me?" It laughed again. "Look at you! The hero of the entire world is losing all his friends because he can't trust them enough!"

Sonic ripped through it with a spin, causing the silver bodied shape shifter to melt into a puddle on the ground. "Fine! Have it your way!"

It reformed into a Sonic faced evil and simply stared at him.

"I admit it, I'm over fighting with you, you coward. Obviously, you can just melt whenever, so fisticuffs are out of the question. But believe me, I _will_ find a way to defeat you and I _will_ save this planet! So go ahead and tear up all the satellites, and go acid burn a few forests, and do damage to everything you can! Because before you know it, I'm coming back with a weapon and I'm going to give you and all your friends the boot! I'm warning you! GET OUT before I come after you, because NO ONE can run from Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"That's funny." It let out a short laugh. "I thought Sonic the Hedgehog didn't like to use weapons."

"Get out."

"Whatever. I'm not stopping _you_ from leaving."

"NOW!"

"Fine, I'll just make like the Blue Blur himself and _run away_!"

The image of its leering grin hung in the air until Tails finally came over the edge of the cliff and landed beside Sonic. "What happened to your arms!?"

"You were right." Sonic grimaced as he stood up. "They _are_ made of acid. Don't worry about me. A few rings will do the trick."

"Oh yeah, and then maybe we can look for the Chaos Emeralds." Tails walked towards the cliff.

"Tails, I hate to break it to you, but all the Chaos Emeralds went up to space and they're not coming down." Sonic followed him.

"Exactly my point." Tails lifted a finger and turned around. "I'm going to go get Cream."

"And I'm coming with you."

Tails jumped and flew. "I dare you to." He came over and held down his hands.

Sonic winced and took a step back. "On second thought, I think I'll_ slowly_ walk back on foot."

"I thought so." Tails flew away.

"Here we are again, not trusting each other." It had come back, standing right below the cliff.

Sonic jumped down, smashing it below his feet. "I thought I told you to SCRAM!"

It squeezed out from under Sonic and formed into Tails. "What's going to happen to your best friend? You ended up getting your other best friend killed! What's going to become of your beloved Tails if you don't start trusting him? What's to become of _you_?"

Sonic drew breath for a retort, but then he saw the disgusting grin on the alien's face. A grin so filthy, it was oozing with contempt and thriving off his anger. The thing was making fun of him! It _wanted_ him to blow up! He was just wasting his breath anyway, so why not deny it the thrill it sought after most? Sonic cocked his head at it. "Ha," as though amused by its suddenly childish taunt. He then turned on his heal and started walking away without acknowledging its presence in any way, shape, or form. And _that_ was fun!

"Hey!" it called after him. "I was talking to you! You can't just _leave_! Sonic! Come baaack!" Its cries grew farther and more frantic with every step. "I saw that look in your eyes! You think you're so much better than me now? Well, you can just think that way! I tell you, you are going to suffer greatly, Sonic the Hedgehog! And I will enjoy watching you crackle like sun baked mud! THAT'S ALL YOU ARE! MUD! MUD MUD MUD! AND HERE COMES THE SUN!"

Sonic couldn't stand it any longer. He ran, but not very far. At least it was far enough to lose the demented cries that thing back there. But now, he couldn't go on any longer. The terrible burning on his arms demanded that he rest and wait for Cream and Tails to catch up.

He was in the cool, humid, wooded area. There was probably a stream nearby. Sonic could hear the sounds of bubbling water. Yes, this was as good a place as any to wait. He sat down against a tree and closed his eyes.

* * *

_And slowly, Sonic could identify the tree he was sitting against. A palm tree, date palm to be exact. As for that bubbling water? That was the sound of the bubbles on the beach popping when a shallow wave had just dropped them off on the sand. How strange, one would think that they would more likely hear the waves themselves and not the bubbles. No matter._

_Yes, Sonic knew this place very well. A few date palms, some coconuts here and there, but mostly sand and water and a dock. Wood seemed to be in abundance on this familiar beach. People too. Although his eyes were closed, Sonic could here an old green man, a little black squirrel, and a small family of hedgehogs. The little black squirrel's parents couldn't make it to the picnic, but the girl had permission, and all the eager in the world to come._

_A very happy day indeed. But one day, things changed. It was the day that_ _bright red bird crashed in his backyard. And the day he ran to go get the doctor. And the day it was just the two of them, the bigger black squirrel and the half sized hedgehog. And that was the day of air planes. And sunny thunder._

_But then another thing happened. Before? Or was it later? A year, two years? Three? Only a month? But it was the something that was important. It was when he'd seen something bad, and his world sank into years of selective silence. Never talk to strangers, after all. Awkward and childish of a boy who hadn't grown into his stomach. He'd lost his hero._

_Hero. What happens when you lose one? People forget. No reason. They just do. And life goes on. Silently. Cold. Constantly in fear of what he'll do next, and what you can do to avoid the consequences. Like run away. And hide. And refuse to talk._

_That's the way life works on Mobius. It breathes. It rolls from one moment to the next like a perpetual motion machine. One day after another. Year after year, season after season, decade after decade, month over month. Constantly. Never pausing to have a break. And when something stops up, everyone holds their breath until something snaps and one way or another, everything is over. It had always been like this, and probably always would be. Time would go on, but people could not. There would always be the good, and there would always be the bad. And the world needed both to cancel each other out, because… Because!_

_This heat is too much to bear. I need to take my arms off or else I'll fry to a crisp. Yet touching them will make them burst from embers into full blown flames! What do I do? Panic! I can't stand the heat! I can't open my eyes for the sun is so bright, and I can't move into the absent shade of this date palm because my arms hurt! Panic! Panic! Alert! Alert! Mayday! Mayday! I'm on fire! HELP! I'M DRYING UP IN THE HEAT OF MY OWN FIRE!_

"_I told you," it said. "Can you feel the sunshine?"_

* * *

Something wet and drippy freezing barely touched Sonic's forehead before his eyes shot open. This time, it was a pair of alien monsters, posing as Tails and Cream, but Cheese was real, because no monster would fly up to him and plop on his lap and give a cheerful "Chao!" It was at this point that Sonic finally relaxed.

"Oh good! You're awake! We got a bit worried when we saw you sleeping." Tails pulled the wet rag away.

"I'll be fine. If not for this wrenched headache." Sonic started to put a hand on his head, but found he couldn't move. He looked down and saw his arms wrapped in stiff white paper. "Uh, Cream?"

She smiled. "Sorry about that, you can't bend your elbows. But by the time we got here, you were starting to turn pink with some kind of infection."

"Probably from all that dust in the area." Sonic leaned his head back against the tree.

"Cream is really good with anti-infection stuff. You'll be just fine." Tails handed Sonic several rings. "Here, let's go home."

He took the rings and accepted his buddy's hand up. "Tails, you're wrong."

"Huh?"

Sonic shrugged. "I might not even know what I'm saying here, but I don't think any of us are going to be alright."


	10. Chapter 9 Crunch Time

Crunch Time

Sonic, Tails, Cream, and Cheese passed through a town on the way home. Going through town in a big group like this wasn't as much of a big deal as it used to be. Especially right after everything Eggman related suddenly stopped working. For several weeks after Tails's virus exploded, Sonic and his friends were forced to avoid cities and towns lest crowd spawned hero worship commence. Then, very slowly but thankfully, they could walk about like normal people again.

Just as they came to the outskirts of the city, they spotted a large crowd of people… no, they were in line.

"I wonder what that's all about." Tails stepped off the side walk when a mother and her baby who hadn't noticed them.

"Chao chao, chao." Cheese pointed a kid further up in line, one with what looked like a rash on his bare arms.

Sonic saw someone else with a similar rash. "Is everyone sick with the same thing or something?" he quietly asked, joining Tails and Cream in the street. He had long since removed and discarded the healing salve covered papers Cream had made.

"Let's go look!" Cream bounced ahead, Cheese bobbing in the air not far behind.

Tails and Sonic looked at each other, then ran after her. They caught up and found the source of the line. Cream and Cheese were standing in front of the Emergency Room entrance to a local hospital. She proceeded to enter and was going to ask a secretary about the line, but both of them seemed quite busy. Meanwhile, almost every patient was wearing the same angry red rash. Cream and Cheese went back outside.

"Almost everyone inside has the same rash," she reported.

"Yeah, most of the people in line too." Sonic glanced down the block. "Now what could cause everyone, all at once, to get the exact same rash at the exact same time?"

"The moon."

"Who said that?" Tails looked over his shoulder.

An old gray owl nodded towards them, his face slightly twisted in pain. "The moon," he repeated. "What makes the tides go, you brilliant brain child?"

Tails stared at him because it was a 'duh' question. "The moon."

"Well?" The owl asked in his squeaky voice. He pointed skyward. "Do you see a moon?"

They all looked up. The sky was blue with a few wispy clouds and several bright spots of light besides the sun.

"Oh yeah…" Sonic nodded.

"So?" The owl tilted his head slightly. "What are you going to do about it?"

Cream tugged on Sonic's arm. "Let's help! We can go to that meadow back there and get all the things we need! The hospital is overwhelmed, and people are in pain, but I know of some plants that can help with the itching and swelling."

"Say no more," Sonic scooped her up and charged for the meadow.

They spent the rest of the day sending people home with knowledge to share with friends. The old owl stayed and talked with them for a little while.

"After the moon was destroyed, every single tide stopped and leveled out, and every beach in flooded." the wise old owl told them. "And so ended a good chunk of healthy ocean circulation. Likewise, most of the rivers became backwashed from all the extra ocean water. Fresh water fish cannot live in salt water, so even up the Great River as far as a few miles south of _here_, fresh fish are dying. Mosquitoes then came and fed on the dead fish floating on the river, then they go and bite everyone."

"Hence this strange new rash," Tails nodded.

"Very good!" He patted Tails on the head. "Unfortunately, the diseased mosquitoes are spreading like wild fire, especially in the wetter areas of the world. My theory is that the person who has had this rash, if bit again ever after, has just infected another mosquito."

"I guess we'd better steer clear of mosquitoes then," Sonic said.

"I hope there's enough bug repellant for everyone," Cream frowned. "I wonder if there's a plant that mosquitos don't like."

"Perhaps." He touched the top of Cream's head. "You're quite the healer, aren't you?"

She smiled. "I do my best."

"Chao chao!" Cheese nodded.

The old wise owl nodded and started to go on his way. "Hard times are coming, young people. We may need more healers now more than ever before."

Sonic watched him leave. "Let's go home."

"Good idea." Tails grabbed Sonic's hand.

"Excuse me," a little girl ran up to them.

"Yes?" Cream looked at her.

"I'm looking for my mommy. Can you help me?"

"I'll help you." Cream turned to Sonic and Tails. "You can go ahead, Mr. Sonic and Tails. I know my way home from here."

"Aww, Cream. You're so grown up." Sonic waved.

"Wait! Are you Sonic?" the little girl asked.

"The one and only."

She went closer to him, then Cheese screamed, then the girl morphed into a monster. Sonic squeezed Tails's hand and pulled them both out of the way. Civilians all around screamed in horror and disappeared out of sight. Tails let go of Sonic, rolling several more feet out of the way while Sonic distracted it. Cheese punched it in one of its many eyes. Then the creature roared and transformed back into the little, whimpering, human girl.

Tails pulled back a couple of wires. "I'm so sorry I had to use that, but it seemed like the fastest way to end this little confrontation."

Sonic bent down and looked into her crying face. "Usually, kids who ask for our help don't suddenly turn and attack us."

She glared up at him. "You attacked me first! I didn't do anything to you, and you destroyed my world!"

Cream pushed Sonic aside. "Mr. Sonic did nothing to you. It was Mr. Shadow who fired at your people, but you can't blame or do anything to him because we think he's dead too! And if you think you can go attacking any one of us, just know that we were and are acting in self-defense only! We Mobians never wanted any trouble with you, but out of nowhere, your people started destroying cities and islands and taking millions of lives!"

Her bottom lip quivered. "You liar! I never did anything to you! I never did anything bad to anybody! And yet you still separated me from my family! I was left all alone and it's all your fault! Give your petty speach to the babies and children who are more alone than I am!"

"There are more of you?" Sonic looked around. "Here?"

Cream sighed. "Why don't you tell that to over the over twenty six million innocent men, women, children, and babies who are all now dead because of you?"

She slapped Cream in the face. "You monster! You're just trying to make me feel sorry for your gruesome faced friends! It won't work! I'll kill you! I'll make every last one of you suffer for the lost children! You are bile in the gutter! You monsters don't deserve to live for what you did to me and all the others!" Before anyone could do anything else, she melted and oozed unbelievably fast down a storm drain.

A man ran up, carrying a broken piece of wood with several nails sticking out the end. "Where is it?" he demanded. "I saw one of those murderous monsters over here, and I want justice on it!"

Tails pointed to the drain. "You just missed her. She went down there a second ago."

"Her?!" He shook his head. "She?! You make it sound like these creatures have identities!"

"Well, no more than you or I, bud." Sonic stepped back from the drain.

"No, that's where you're wrong, Hero Boy." He shook his head again, lowering the weapon. "I saw one of those beasts swallow up my wife just yesterday, but I was too late to help her. Now you tell me if any of them have souls!"

"Sir, by the way she was talking, I feel like the alien girl has been manipulated to believe everyone on Mobius is responsible for separating her from her family." Cream sadly folded her hands behind her back.

"Girl, that alien ain't dead. My wife is dead, separated from anyone who ever loved her. That creature still got a chance to get with another and next thing you know, this here whole planet will be a-run with murderous aliens." He glared at the hole under the sidewalk. "I'm coming for you! I'm going to find something that'll kill you, AND your family!" Then he turned on his heal and stomped away.

* * *

_Tails walked through a steel canyon. The cliffs were steel. The ground was steel. The animals were steel. But the creepiest part was that he was steel too. He could feel his steel heart thud thud thudding on the hollow insides of his steel chest. "Is this what it's like to be a robot?" he asked himself as he walked through the canyon._

_Sonic suddenly ran up to him and stopped. "Are you a robot?"_

"_Sonic! I'm so glad to see you! It's me, Tails!" Then he noticed something about his best friend. Sonic looked like he did when they had first met._

"_If you are Tails, they why do you look like this?" Sonic came close and pulled off Tail's chest. He turned it around, but it wasn't his chest any more, it had turned into a mirror._

_Tails looked in the mirror. He was a steel monster with Eggman's old logo painted on his face. He gasped. "Sonic, you must believe me!"_

_The mirror broke in Sonic's hands. "I'm sorry, but I can't allow any robot looking like you to live." He spun through Tails and left his parts lying all over the canyon._

_But Tails could still feel all of his steel arms and legs. Each one was broken and separated, but he could still feel and move them. His left eye could even watch Sonic as he ran away._

"_Tails, report to GUN headquarters at once. We have urgent battle plans to discuss," Eggman told him through his right ear._

"_Eggman." But that didn't sound loud enough to be heard. "Eggman! I'm broken!" He rolled his body over so his still attached right arm could reach his right ear…_

…and landed on the wooden floor. Tails opened his eyes and groaned. He couldn't move because he was still tangled in the sheet, which was still (but not for very much longer) tucked under the matrass. He wiggled free and placed his hands under him to stand up.

The cam com on his side table beeped again. "Tails, please respond!" It was really the GUN commander's voice, not Eggman's.

"I'm coming! I'm coming! Even though you can't hear me, which is probably a good thing because…" he yawned, "…I, I think I was sleep talking. Anyway," Tails sat on the bed and picked up the watch sized communicator. He moved the switch for audio only, then flicked up the screen. It showed him a picture of a telephone, indicating that the commander was not using any kind of video phone. "Good morning, sir. I trust at least one of us had a decent night's sleep?"

"Your presence is required at GUN headquarters at once!"

"I'll be there as soon as I can. It was nice chatting with you," Tails closed the cam com and strapped it to his wrist. He yawned again, found his shoes, and looked at the sleepy clock. "Six twenty seven!? Boy, someone needs some manners! I wonder if there'll even be a breakfast there." Tails tied his shoes and grabbed a couple of bites to eat and hoofed it to Sonic's house. He knocked on the door.

It opened and Sonic stuck his head out. "You had trouble sleeping too?"

"Not until ten minutes ago." Tails rubbed his eyes. "The GUN commander wants us to be at HQ on the double, and not enough time for a real breakfast."

Sonic disappeared for a second, then opened the door wider and tossed an apple in the air. "Ok, let's go."

Tails laughed and caught it. "Race ya!"

They raced, and Sonic won. Someone showed them to the conference room. Almost everyone was there, Rouge, Amy, the Commander, the Vector, and Mighty, all sitting at a large round table with Omega standing and the last chair empty. The Commander looked up. "What's he doing here?"

"Who? Amy asked.

"Sonic. I do not recall asking _you_ to come." He stood up and put his arms behind his back.

"Oh really?" Sonic stepped aside. "So everyone else is here but not me? Why, am I the subject?"

"Everything here is on a need to know basis only."

"You're ok Sonic." Vector waved. "Maybe you can go help Espio comfort Charmy."

"And as you can see, Cream isn't here either." Rouge shrugged. "It doesn't matter much. Suffice it to say, you were already here."

As if on cue, a large glass cylinder was rolled in on a cart. Inside the cylinder was another Sonic. The other Sonic looked at the real one. "_You again_?"

Sonic folded his arms. "Took the words right out of my mouth, but I have nothing to say to _you_." He turned to the head of the table. "Is no one going to explain this? Why you want my doppelganger here but not me?"

"Yeah!" Tails glared at the Commander. "He's not the only one who wants to know why."

"I second that!" Amy stood up.

The Commander survived all the angry looks in the room, he tilted his head left and right in resignation. "Very well. Sonic, I didn't invite you because your presence is not necessary."

Sonic laughed and pointed a thumb at the alien. "He can't tell you _everything_ about me."

"Can't I?" it asked, suddenly amused.

"Sonic…" The Commander looked up. "How should I say this? You've done nothing."

"What?" Sonic twisted a finger in his ear. "Did I just hear you correctly?"

"Yes. You haven't done anything for the last three months."

"If I recall correctly, Eggman was still in good working order a three months ago."

"True. But since then, what? Just what exactly have you done except be a bloated face for public media? It was Tails who made that virus and delivered it. Shadow was the one who stopped their ship from killing the world's cities. Even Cream found a cure for the rash out break two days ago. And what was the biggest thing you did during all that? You smiled for the camera."

Amy drew her hammer and aimed for the commander's big head. "Take it back!"

"Amy, Amy," Rouge waved her off. "Let's not be too hasty. Just have a seat and let's loose that hammer, shall we?"

"Please, everyone! Stop arguing and get to the point!" Mighty stood up and pushed his chair in. "Commander, everyone you asked for is here now. Shall we begin?"

"Not until…!"

Amy glanced at Mighty, looked at Sonic, then waved her hammer away and pushed her chair in.

Tails repeated this gesture, not even sitting down.

"What's wrong with you all?" Rouge glanced around the table. She looked at Vector.

Then, he too stood up and slid his stool under the table.

The Commander's face wrinkled and turned beat red.

Sonic alien laughed. "Look True Blue, they're all standing up for you!" It laughed so hard it started to melt.

Sonic ignored the alien and continued to casually stare at the man in charge.

"Commander?" Mighty politely prodded.

His mouth twisted as though swallowing something, (pride, perhaps?) and he gestured towards the cylinder container. "Anyway," he grumbled on. "I called _most_ of you to this meeting because there are some very important things to be discussed. But I must first inform you that we can no longer count on Dr. Eggman's inside knowledge of these creatures." He gestured towards the cylinder.

"Why not?" Sonic asked.

The other Sonic smirked. "Because Egghead is dead."


	11. Chapter 10 Empty Shell

Empty Shell

Stunned silence filled the room. If you looked around, it appeared that this was news to everyone except the Commander and Rouge. As always, silent Omega's expression remained emotionless. The alien under glass grinned at this reaction.

Rouge broke the silence. "Please do enlighten the rest of them how this came about."

"_You_ should know, sister. _You're_ the one who put me in this despicable container."

"But I am the one who ordered her to." The Commander folded his hands on the table. "Continue, subject."

"It was easy," his evil face relished in the memory. "Like sinking your teeth into a fat juicy grape. I learned earlier that he was the one who killed our brother, the one who's blood first sought. That is, _before_ you blew us to pieces." He glared at the real Sonic, then relaxed and smiled at him. "And I have you to thank for vengeance."

Sonic raised his eyebrows.

"Yes. Do you remember? When you gave me that friendly hug and I gave you those fancy new scars? You Chaos Critters heal up unbelievably fast, you know. Look at those arms. Hardly a couple days later and it takes a trained eye to tell."

"What happened next?" Sonic glared at him, crossing his arms.

"You're not being any fun." It sighed. "Nothing happened after that. But, your precious Eggman was in a lab filled with security cameras, so that thing over there," he pointed to Rouge, "came in, grabbed me, and put me in this jar. So here I am."

"I had to fight him first!" Rouge put her hands on the table and leaned back, but didn't stand up like almost everyone else. "And _then_ tiny over there was a good boy and climbed in the glass as instructed."

The Commander looked up with interest. "You fought? What happened to the lab?" Apparently, this was recent news to him as well.

She tutted her tong and shook her head and shrugged. "Gone. He had already destroyed everything useful Eggman had been working on before I got there. Our fight finished taking out the security cameras."

"Wait, did it touch you?" Amy looked to Rouge.

"Sure, if you mean in that acid form of his. But don't worry, dear. My skin is too perfect for scars." Rouge examined her glove.

"But that means our alien here could transform into you!" Tails noted.

"Don't be a sicko!" the alien stuck out his tong. "You think I'd even _want_ to imitate _that_?!"

Vector laughed aloud.

Mighty smiled. "I think you've just been insulted, Rouge."

Rouge glared at the monster under glass. "Well!"

Doppelganger Sonic stuck his tong out at her.

"Excuse me, sir." Rouge nodded to the Commander. She glared once more at the cylinder, stood up, and left the room.

"Bye bye!" It wiggled its fingers as she left.

"Personally, I think you're having way too much fun in that face." Sonic elbowed the glass.

"Right on! I love your personality, bro! It keeps me on my toes!" It lifted a foot and looked at it. "If I had toes."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Commander sir, I've just about had enough of this circus. I'm hungry, and the radio said it might rain this afternoon. Can we please hurry up with the meeting?"

"We are in perfect unison, Amy Rose." The Commander nodded. "Very well. First things first. As soon as this meeting is adjourned, I will publicly announce that we are at war with these aliens. And yet, the media has yet to come up with an agreeable general name for them."

"Too true." Alien Sonic shook its head. "You humans are always bickering. Besides, what we call ourselves requires a flexible tong."

"How flexible of a tong?" Sonic asked.

"More flexible than yours." It pulled his tong out with his right hand, wrapped it around his head and pushed it back in his mouth. "Get the picture?"

Amy cringed and turned to face the wall. "Eww! That was disgusting! Don't ever do that again!"

Tails grimaced. "We get the picture alright. All too well."

"Let's just call them the silver shape shifters," Vector suggested.

"Don't be ridiculous," the alien put a hand over his face.

"What would you suggest?" Tails asked it. "That we keep calling you murderous monsters?"

It shook its head in disapproval. "We really wouldn't be all that bad in your eyes, if you were like us. So why don't you make up a word that you think describes the real us?"

"Let's go with that." Mighty looked around the room. "Everyone say a word that describes the aliens."

"And don't say aliens anymore!" the creature in glass complained. "Remember that your disgusting solid shapes are as foreign to me as I am to all of you."

"I've got one!" Vector raised his hand. "Mad! It's the first thing I get when I remember that you were the one who killed Knuckles!"

"Polymorphic," Tails said. "Simply, it means that they can transform their shape."

"What a mouthful." Rouge came back in the room. "Just call them Monsters and get it over with!"

"Rouge!" the alien glared at her, but said nothing more.

"Morning," Sonic said absently, walking away from the creepy cylinder. "Everything they've ever done was in the morning."

"I'm more with Vector," Amy stated. "Whenever I think of one of them, all I remember is how Knuckles was murdered. Murderers."

"It seems to me, that we all like the letter M." The Commander folded his hands in thought. "From now on, we'll call them the M."

"The M?" The alien in a jar turned around and refused to look at anyone. "What a stupid name! Even the people of Yendor thought of something better than _the M_!"

Sonic arrived at where Omega calmly stood in the corner. He knocked on Omega's shoulder. "Hello? Anyone home?"

Omega's eyes glowed more brightly.

"Oh, it's not much, but you've hardly said a word all morning." Sonic looked at him. "Just wondering what's going on in that robot head of yours."

"**All processors are at peak efficiency. I am in good working order. However, the conversation has not reached my area of interest yet. Therefore I have remained silent until now.**" Omega looked down to Sonic.

"Which raises my next point." The Commander nodded to Omega. "You'd better start listening, Omega, because here is where we'll start interesting you more." He looked at Sonic, then Tails, then Rouge. "I need the four of you, Omega, Rouge, Sonic, and Tails, to break into Eggman's establishment and look for anything that might help us in our battle against the M."

"Great, he already loves it." The M creature melted into silver goo, filling up the bottom six inches of the container.

"Eggman was the one who knew the most about them, and there's always a chance he logged everything he knew into one of his computers. Possibly even more than he was telling us."

"That _is_ where he first discovered the M," Tails remarked.

"Right." The Commander nodded. "Omega, you go in first and clear a path."

"**It will be my honor, sir.**"

He turned to Tails. "Your job is to hack the computer."

Tails pulled out the minicomputer Sonic had given him for his birthday. "It'll be a synch, just like last time!"

"Rouge, as soon as the computer is open wide enough, download every scrap of knowledge into this disk." The Commander slid a CD across the table towards her.

She caught it and picked it up. "My pleasure."

"Sonic," the Commander looked at him. "You might as well take out the welcoming committee that's sure to be inside."

Sonic popped his fingers. "This'll bring back some memories!"

"As for you three," he turned to Vector, Mighty, and Amy. "Vector will be using our computers here at GUN and distract any defensive programing. Mighty and Amy, you are the communicators. Keep Tails aware of what's happening on Vector's end, and vice versa. Mighty, you'll be going with the field team. Obviously they could use all the muscle they can get."

Mighty nodded.

Amy frowned. "I want to go with Sonic!"

"Sorry kido." Rouge joined the field team on that side of the room. "But orders are orders."

The Commander stood up. "Now move!"

* * *

_Eggman is gone,_ Sonic thought to himself. _Because I let that ball of slime touch me._

Rouge was leading everyone deep deep deep into the dense woods almost jungle, and she complained an awful lot. Omega broke down a narrow path for everyone to follow behind her, but Tails choose to fly instead.

Mighty took stride with Sonic. They weren't going all that fast, but it was easier with Omega crashing a trail ahead of them. "_How_ much further is it?"

"Don't tell me you're tired!" Sonic gave him a friendly shove.

Mighty shoved back, a tiny bit harder. "Not in a physical sense, but I am getting tired of hearing the laments of Miss Makeup over there."

Sonic laughed. "I know what you mean."

"I thought Omega was supposed to be in front, so why is she?" Mighty asked.

Sonic shrugged. "Maybe she couldn't stand us?"

"You know, why didn't the Commander want you in that meeting if he was just going to ask you to go on this mission anyway?"

"I don't know. Maybe he was going to ask you to take out Eggman's little pets when we got there."

"Who knows? I somehow think that Omega is going to have way too much fun with that part of the deal, if Eggman was able to build _any_ robots in the last year." Sonic looked up between the branches to catch a glimpse of Tails.

Tails saw him and waved.

Sonic waved back. "I think we're almost there."

"Good." Mighty lifted a two way radio to his face. "We're approaching the base now."

"AHH!" Rouge fell back while Omega lifted his arms and started firing at something in the trees. Tails came down through the branches.

"Everybody have a ring?" Mighty held up several rings.

Rouge and Tails took a couple each. Sonic shook his head. "I still have a few."

"Ok, let's go!" Tails shouted.

"Me first!" Sonic jumped passed Omega. "You don't get to have _all_ the fun, Omega!"

Five minutes later, all laser torrents, robots, doors, cameras, warning systems, and force fields were all smoking with defeat.

"Aww man!" Tails finally caught up. "I was hoping that would last longer."

"I didn't even get a turn!" Mighty laughed.

Sonic pulled open the now inactive sliding door. "Don't worry, I'm sure Eggman's computer will pose much more of a challenge than the welcome mat."

As they entered the very humble establishment, flashlights had to be clicked on in the darkness. The thin layer of dust on the floor did nothing to dampen the sounds of their footsteps. Rouge led them all through the maze of halls and doors.

Amy's protesting voice crackled over the radio for a second, then Vector shouted from it, "Hey Mighty! Find the Computer Room!"

Everyone laughed. Mighty pushed the button, "Yeah, everyone but me had a really good time on that level, didn't they?"

"Mighty!" Sonic's voice echoed slightly. "Stay in character, would you?"

"**The readers do not like it when we talk about them inside the story,**" Omega blasted another camera ahead, that noise echoing for even longer.

"Alright, alright." Mighty put the radio away.

"In here, guys." Rouge motioned to a closed door.

Sonic pushed the control panel to open it. Nothing happened. "Ah, nothing a little elbow grease won't fix!"

"I'm all this!" Mighty stood next to Sonic and put his hands on the flat steel of the door.

"**Sonic and Mighty**."

"Yes?" Sonic looked over his shoulder.

"**Please step away from the door. My method is much faster.**" Omega raised an arm.

"Be our guest," Mighty backed away the same time as Sonic.

Four shots later, "**That door is history! I will stand guard while you hack the computers.**"

"Very good, Omega." Rouge pulled out the disk and set it on the counter.

"Our job is going to be extremely difficult if the power isn't…" Tails pushed a primitive switch on the wall upwards to connect the circuit. The lights snapped on and all the computers started booting up. "Oh good! I was afraid Omega had knocked out the generators." He sat down in a large chair and set the minicomputer next to him on the counter.

"Vector, time to start hacking!" Mighty took his position behind Tails to watch the screen.

Sonic stood just inside the door, the only door. Omega was guarding from the other side.

Rouge walked up to Sonic. She was biting her lower lip. "This could take a while."

He looked at her. "What's been up with you today? With all the complaining you've been doing, one might think you've never been out in the field before."

"Oh don't get me wrong, there are worse places to hide a base than right here in a very dense forest. I just can't think of any right now." Rouge leaned against the door frame.

"What's so bad about the forest?" Sonic asked. "I personally love how the leaves turn pretty colors in the fall."

"Now that's a whole other time of the year. In the summer, all those bugs come out and the pollen was making my eyes sting! Yuck! And look at my face! My makeup just went everywhere, being scratched by all those leaves and trees, yick!" She wrinkled her face in disgust.

"And you thought I'd be caring about all this… why?" Sonic looked to her for an answer.

"If you were half the gentleman you claim to be, you'd care about a woman's feelings!" Rouge scolded him.

Sonic laughed aloud. "Really? For your sake, I'm glad Amy's not here to beat you to a pulp right now." _Pulp. Slime._ Sonic looked at Rouge again.

They heard something fall, and then a scramble in the distance. Omega tensed up. "**Detecting enemy Eggman robot approaching.**"

"Looks like one of us is going to have to go check that out," Sonic suggested. "Unless, you come with me, Rouge."

"Whatever. Lead on."

Sonic stepped out of the empty door. He waited until she was about half out before hitting the control panel on the outside.

The remains of the door's left side tried to close, but there was hardly anything left of it. However, the force field reinforcement buzzed on. Half of Rouge's left ear, her left arm, and left boot all fell in a blob of silver goo at the base of the force field. Quickly she pulled back and the missing body parts reformed.

Omega turned around, pointing his arms at her.

Sonic raised his eye brow. "You monster! I _knew_ you were acting a little too strange!"

Tails and Mighty jumped from the computer.

Rouge looked over her shoulder. "Me? The monster?" She put her hand on the force field, and the control panel sputtered and began to smoke. "Look, you've just trapped me in here with Mighty and Tails."


	12. Chapter 11 On The Outside Looking In

On The Outside Looking In

It laughed. It was laughing. It laughed at them. It laughed at Sonic and Omega. It laughed at Omega because only light and sound can go through a force field, not lasers or rockets or bullets. It laughed at Sonic pounding on the dead control panel. It laughed at them, it laughed at their efforts. It laughed at Mighty shoving Tails behind him. It kept laughing as it turned silver and expanded into a colossal beast. It was laughing the entire time.

And Sonic stood there blank. Blank as pure white printer paper. A hundred times had a force field separated himself and Tails from Eggman. One thousand times did he witness Tails connect two frayed wires under the control panel to make a force field evaporate. Two hundred thousand ways had Sonic figured out how to break into a room where the door, walls, floor, and ceiling were reinforced by force fields. Eggman's personal creation. Almost signature before the end. Specifically designed with Sonic's exclusion in mind. And now… this force field was separating Tails from Sonic, and it was Sonic's fault two times over. Sonic inspired Eggman to make such rooms, and Sonic had pushed the button.

Every moment around Sonic froze. The liquid inanimate M goo oozed around his feet. Omega fired at the force field, trying to short it out. Mighty fought with the M. Tails dodged and helped fight. Sonic just stood there with his feet glued to the floor.

"SONIC!" Tails was screaming in his face. "BLUE AND YELLOW!"

"What?" Sonic looked at him.

"THE CONTROL PANEL!" Tails jumped away as the beast tossed Mighty against the force field.

Mighty jumped off the field and spun into the monster's middle.

Tails hovered in front of Sonic. "OPEN THE CONTROL PANEL AND PUT BLUE AND YELLOW TOGETHER!"

Sonic blinked and shook his head. He tore off the control panel. "I don't see blue or yellow!"

"**EGGMAN ROBOT ALERT!**" Omega turned to attack a robot as large as the monster inside the room.

Tails closed his eyes and put a hand on his head. "Uhh… Orange and Green!"

Sonic quickly scanned over the wires. "That's no good! All the wires are gray!"

"Curse you Eggman!" Tails flew out of the way as Mighty threw one of the monster's many arms _SPLAT_ against the force field. The field buzzed and sparkled until all the shiny goo dripped down. Tails came back, his face appearing in the clean upper right corner. "Try going to an access terminal and asking the computer to drop the force field!"

"Got it!" Sonic ran down the hall, opposite direction as Omega and his robot. He skid to a halt when he saw an access point and slapped it to wake it up.

Eggman's animated face appeared. "Yes, how may I help you?" his voice asked.

"Drop the force field around the Thinking Room!" Sonic shouted at it.

"Password please." The picture changed to a microphone.

"Eggman."

"And spell it," the computer asked.

Sonic grumbled. "E! G! G! M! A! N!"

The animated face reappeared. "Correct!"

"Finally!" Sonic sighed.

"I'm sorry Sonic, but I cannot drop the force field for you."

A force field on either side of Sonic activated, and the floor plate he was standing on began lifting towards the ceiling.

"However," Eggman continued. "I _can_ activate a couple, just for you!" Maniacal laughter. "And when you get too thin, it is then I win! How do you like _that_ Rodent?"

"Stupid!" Sonic punched the screen out. "Tails is in danger and the computer is making jokes!"

"Beware," the speakers continued. "You have damaged property of the Eggman Empire. Please remain still while proper assistance is directed your way."

Sonic punched the speakers. "Yeah right!" He spun through the floor board, but when he ran back to go to Tails, he bumped against the force field. "You know what Eggman? I hate you too!"

Then there was the scream.

"Tails?!" Sonic looked down the hall as far as he could, but he wasn't able to see into that room.

"SONIC! HURRY!" Tails yelled. "MIGHTY'S HURT!"

"TAILS!" Sonic shouted back. "I CAN'T DO ANYTHING! I'M TRAPPED BEHIND A FORCE FIELD!"

Tails screamed again.

"TAILS! DON'T WORRY! I'M COMING!" Sonic watched as the floor board above him rose painfully slow to meet the ceiling. As soon as they touched, the force fields dropped and Sonic charged to the computer room door.

The giant hulking robot got in his way. Its sheer massiveness took up the entire hallway. Small rocket holes and laser burns decorated most of the front, and from its upper right claw hung most of Omega's shell. The robot stared down at Sonic. "**PRIORITY ONE HEDGEHOG!**"

"Get out of my way! I don't have time for you!" Sonic jumped from side to side as fast and heavy dangerous objects, which he didn't pay much attention to, rained down from the robot. It was heavily armored to the point of being a fortrace itself, but it wasn't firing bombs or lasers or anything useful that might be thrown back at it. Sonic spun at the holes in its chest armor, but he bounced right off as though hitting another force field.

"SONEEEKKK!"

"TAILS I'M COMING!" Sonic jumped as the robot thrust its lower right spear into the floor. He landed on the wrist and sprang to the claw with Omega in it while the left claw hammered down on the spot where he'd been. Sonic leaped forward when the claw behind him tilted up and smashed Omega's head on the robot's arm. Now Sonic clung to the shoulder, until the robot jumped forward to smash that shoulder into the floor. Sonic took the opportunity to escape the robot and run to Tails. "TAILS!"

Mighty lay unconscious or dead near the door. The force field was still up. The M monster was swatting at Tails like a fly that fought back. Tails was panting very rapidly, and probably couldn't see anything except himself and the…

"Oof!" Something large and heavy clamped around Sonic's torso, pining his arms to his sides. He was knocked over and down the hall by the force of it. It was hard to wiggle at all, much harder to even breathe the tiniest breath. The robot's claw with him in it spun on the steel floor until Sonic's dizzy world rolled on its own. When the claw finally stopped, Sonic opened his eyes and saw that the dark halls were even dimmer. The robot stomped towards him. Closer, closer, closer. _BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_

And then everything stopped. The world snapped into total darkness, and silence filled Sonic's ears.

* * *

"… on, come on! That's it, Sonic. Breathe. Breathe. Gently. Slowly. Wake up. Are you awake yet?"

Sonic cracked open his eyes. "Tails?" he whispered, because it hurt too much to do anything else.

"No, it's Mighty," his big black shape sat against the remains of a giant robot claw.

He closed his eyes again. "Sorry, all I can see in a big black shape hovering over me."

"Shhh… Just relax."

"Where's Tails?" Sonic whisper asked.

"I told you to be quiet."

"Where is he!?" Sonic started to sit up.

Mighty pushed him back down. "I don't know! All I could think of after getting knocked out was shutting off the power, and the only way I knew how to do that was by pulling down that switch Tails flipped when we got here. Remember?"

Sonic took a deep breath. "Yes."

"I didn't see what happened to Tails, but as soon as the force fields went down, that thing punched a hole through the roof and escaped."

"You let it get away!?" Sonic pushed himself up again.

Mighty glared back in the dim light. "Come on!" He grabbed Sonic's arm and dragged him back into the computer room. A hole had indeed been ripped through the ceiling, right in the center. "Look around you! There's nothing here to climb on! And I don't know about you, but I can't jump that high! It was gone before I had a chance to stand up, and it didn't leave behind the ooze you cut off of it. I couldn't do anything to stop it, so I came back to help you."

Sonic fell on his knees, under the shaft of dim sunlight coming from above. "Tails…" he whispered.

Mighty put a hand on Sonic's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"_Hey! Watch were you're going! You almost ran me over!"_

"_Dude, you were in my way."_

"_Wait! Don't leave. Where are you going?"_

"_I'm looking for Dr. Robotnik. Do you know where he is?"_

"_Oh no! You don't want to find him!"_

"_I do want to find him, and __when I do, I'm going to kick him off this island!"_

"_Wow… Cool! Can I come?"_

"_U__h_…_ sure!"_

"_Yeah!"_

"_That is, if you can keep up."_

Sonic sniffed. "And you did a fine job of keeping up, Little Buddy." Wet drops of rain began sprinkling the metallic floor.

Mighty stayed silent for a minute. "Hey…"

Sonic looked up.

Mighty held out a small metal box. "Here."

Sonic took it and opened it up. It was the mini super computer he'd given Tails on his birthday. "Thanks."

"We'd better head back. They need to hear about this."

"You go ahead." Sonic nodded. "I'll be along."

Mighty quietly stepped away, passing the cold dead robot that ran off of house power. Part of Omega's remains were still crushed in its enormous claw. _So much for Team Dark._ He looked back into the computer room. _So much for Team Sonic._

* * *

Many moonless nights came and went. Sonic went to GUN HQ, but they told him to go home. The Commander told all his friends to go home. But home was worse. Sonic had no home. Christmas Island, if there was anything left of it, was sitting at the bottom of the ocean. The house he'd built here was one of a few, sitting in a privet little forest surrounded by the houses of friends. His closest neighbor was now dead.

Knuckles was crushed under a piece of Angel Island. Shadow was lost in the ARK explosion. Upon closer examination of security recordings thought to have been destroyed, Rouge was killed while fighting two M individuals she'd found after they killed Eggman, one of which assumed her shape afterwards. Omega was destroyed doing what he loved best. Now add Tails to the growing list of dead.

The radio was full of bad news, so Sonic turned it off.

Mighty visited often. So did Amy, and Cream and Cheese, and any one or two of the Chaotix. And likewise, Sonic would visit any one of them on a bad day (as if there was anything but). Then there was the day Mighty announced he would be going back down south in the morning. He had a home to go back to. After he left, no one ever heard from him again.

After that, things pretty much fell into a rut. Be visited. Visit. Eat. Sleep. Do it all again the next day. Cream and Vanilla received a surprise visit from Big once, but he turned out to be another M in need of punishment.

The radios in other people's houses absently squawked on about famous people gone missing, the M aliens' movements, and what traffic was like on the interstate. Music stations constantly played songs requested by civilians whose loved ones were either dead or missing. Information stations reported wide spread plagues, most caused by mosquitoes or other water loving bugs. Then, one by one, the radio stations stopped broadcasting.

Cream couldn't stand all this. Eventually, she and her mother moved to the coast where Cream knew she could help with the plagues. Of course they'd wright, but they probably wouldn't be coming back.

With no TV, no radio, and unreliable internet, a person's little circle of Mobius could constrict to the size of a pin hole.

* * *

_Beep! Beep!_

Sonic jumped. The camcom hadn't done anything but just sit there for the last several weeks. So he slipped a book mark into the book he'd been looking at but not really reading, and picked up the camcom. He flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Sonic! It's Amy," she sounded panicked, and she hadn't switched on the video.

"Amy, what's wrong?"

"I want to tell you in person."

"Ok, I'll be over in a bit." Sonic started to close the flap.

"No!" she yelled. "I'm not at home."

"Where are you?"

"I'll meet you at the big bent tree, you know, the one on the hill that's good for star gazing. … How soon can you be there?"

"Uh, five minutes?" Sonic glanced around for his red shoes.

"Ok." She paused. "Bring that computer you gave to Tails. I want to see it too."

"Why?" Sonic journeyed into the next room in hunt for his shoes.

"Just, because. Please bring it."

"Ok. Is that it?" Sonic saw the little gray box on top of a book shelf and put it in hammerspace.

"Yeah, I'll see you in five minutes."

"See you."

"And don't let anyone touch you!" she cried as he hung up.

Sonic strapped the camcom to his wrist, then looked under his bed for the elusive red running shoes. He felt around in darkness until he pulled them out. Then he remembered why they weren't by the front door. The rubber souls had been destroyed when he cut off that one M's arm and leg. They had melted and the acid had he'd ruined his best pair of shoes. He ended up tossing them in the garbage can on his way out, wearing instead the soap box grinders.

Amy waited by the tree, a late summer's breeze tugging at her jacket. _Last time I came here, it was a new moon. I was here, with Cream, as soon as the sun set on the first day of this summer._ She did nothing to wipe away the tears for yesterday. _Now the moon in gone, and you can't see so many stars at night. And Cream is gone…_

The wind kicked up suddenly. "Amy?" Sonic asked.

She kept her face against the tree. "Sonic I… I'm leaving. I can't stay here anymore."

Sonic was silent for a while. "What happened?"

"You already know about most of it." Amy looked up into the branches of the tree. "But today, I met some awful M that looked like you, and I thought it was you. But then he… _It_ started insulting me and it started to attack me, but I still thought it was you, until I had to hit it." She turned around and faced Sonic. "But it wasn't you, and I know I could never live with myself if it one day really did turn out to be you."

"Amy, how did it attack you?"

"It started attacking me in the same way you always destroyed robots. Spinning, punching, kicking, and I couldn't escape from it. I'm sorry."

"Amy, that's ok. You don't have to leave just because…"

"YES I DO!" she shouted back. "I can't stay here, not with the M still out there and they know who I am, and that I love you. I'm sorry, I can't do it!"

Sonic blinked. "I understand."

Amy sighed. "Show me the computer."

Sonic brought it out of hammerspace. "Here it is. Do you want something in it?"

"I want to put something in it." Amy came forward and took it. She opened it up, tapped around on the controls for a while, then closed it and handed it back.

"What was that?" Sonic opened it.

"A message for myself, if we ever meet again in the future." Amy folded her hands and looked down. "It's for me to make sure that it's really you."

"You really _are_ trying to say good bye."

"You're not making it any easier!" Amy sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "Oh well. But you can't look at it. I hid it."

"Where?" Sonic closed it. "What if I try to find it?"

"You won't." Amy sniffed again. "But if you ever see me again, show me the computer, and I will know the message."

"What's the message?" Sonic asked.

Amy turned around and waved her fingers. "Goodbye, Sonic. I love you." Then she ran away through the woods.

Sonic put Tails's computer in hammerspace. "Goodbye, Amy Rose."


	13. Chapter 12 War Children

War Children

After the two teens parted ways under the star gazing tree, the small hidden clearing that the tree over looked finally felt the emptiness of absentees. Into the very grain of the tree was carved one memento, a list of names.

_In loving memory of the friendships of:_

_Sonic the Hedgehog_

_Miles "Tails" Prower the Fox_

_Knuckles the Echidna_

_Amy Rose the Hedgehog_

_Cream the Rabbit_

_Cheese the Chao_

_Vanilla the Rabbit, Cream's mother_

_Big the Cat_

_Vector the Crocodile_

_Espio the Chameleon_

_Charmy the Bee_

_Mighty the Armadillo_

_Shadow the Hedgehog_

_Rouge the Bat_

_E-123 Omega the Robot_

_All of whom left yonder valley either in death or search of something else. I will miss you all, my friends. But no matter what, our friendships will last beyond the end of time. Goodbye forever, my friends._

For years afterward, children would gather there, read the names, and wonder who had written it all. Some of them knew who some of the names were, but most would giggle at the funny sounding names. They were the ones too young to know, too old to care. Their world had never had any TV, no radio, no internet, no cell phones of any kind. No one ever went out alone, and every soul on planet Mobius was home well before dark. The children knew the stories, could recite legends, but that didn't mean they believed in fairy tales. Yet there was that list, carved in a tree overlooking an empty valley. Although it had obviously been carved a long time ago, the letters were still clear and fresh. The names sounded funny, but if you went to the cemetery with a copy of the list, you could actually find the buried bones of fairy tales.

But Sonic did not think it was something to joke about.

The wind was blowing in another fresh coat of snow over the forest and the meadow when he found them there. Six little tweens who had nothing better to do.

"You kids shouldn't be out on a day like this."

"EEAAHH!" one of the girls shrieked. They all jumped and turned around. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm real, if that's what you mean." Sonic still had his snow hood up. They couldn't see his face very well.

They whispered among themselves. "We's was just having a little fun, Mister," one of them spoke up. "We're on our way out now."

"To the cemetery?" Sonic asked. "To cross reference those names?"

Silence. "How did you know?!"

He laughed and took off his hood.

At least one of them gasped. "You're… You look like that one guy…"

"That one guy have a name?" he asked, amused and almost mocking them.

"Are you…" One of the boys glanced at the list. "Are you that Shadow guy?"

"Close enough." Sonic shrugged. "Now go home before a real M finds you!"

The girl shrieked again and they all scurried away.

Once alone, Sonic pulled his hood back up. He put his hand on the list. "Hello everyone. I know it's only been three years, but it feels like an eternity." He paused, not knowing what to say or exactly what he came here for. "No, it _has_ been an eternity. I've been gone far too long this time. The rest of us probably think I'm dead too by now. I guess… I just wanted one last moment with you all. One last minute as a kid, before doing what I came back to do." With that, Sonic turned around and walked away.

"The things you hears when you're alone." Sonic shook his head, talking to himself. "Rumors about the Chaos Emeralds, all my friends, an organized war, the M, disasters, epidemics…" he sighed again. "Why, I had someone tell me that they knew for a fact that I was dead, to my face even. What's the world come to without real communication?"

In town, he caught a train ride to the Great River, waited for a boat, and rode another train to his destination. Sure it might have been faster to run, but then the M would have known exactly where he was. _Maybe that's how Amy's staying hidden so well,_ Sonic thought to himself. _Being just like everyone around her._

It was an old building complex, once upon a time known as GUN headquarters. Now the entire place had been transformed into a training camp. The entire world was at war with the M, and this was how they fought it. By drafting pretty much anyone able to fight, and sending them off to go kill themselves.

Researchers theorized that because the M were acid based life forms, they could kill one with a chemical base. Too bad their Ginny pig was set free by one of the other "scientists". But that prototype weapon would have only worked on a captive M (something about said captive having to swallow a high dose pill). But the military needed something that could effective neutralize an M without having to capture it first. Then someone came up with the idea of using energy weapons. Acid is conductive. An over dose of energy might short circuit the M. So they tried that, and ended up short circuiting the weapon. In truth, it looked like the M were sitting pretty, gathering in masses at such locations as the Great Basin.

But Sonic wasn't getting in that faint-at-first-sight line just so he could test out some new weapon on the M. One of the rumors he'd heard was that the Chaotix were still together and active, and another said that someone had rescued a person thought to be dead from one of these masses of M. For Sonic, that meant there was a slim chance that Tails, Mighty, or Big were still alive.

Best to change the subject. Thinking about the dead was one of the things that still made him upset inside.

How about the line? Yes, the line was extremely long, but sort of moving somewhat. People from all over were in line. Most of the people were under twenty five, mere children like himself. The kids of yesterday determined to make a better tomorrow. One way or another.

Snow was falling, but it just might be the last snow of the season. Tiny fat bumps had been appearing on the pencil branches of naked trees for a couple of weeks now, and the weather was getting warm enough, during sunny days, to slushy the banks of ice and snow. Today was not one of those days.

Hours later, Sonic could finally see the front door. Inside were heaters, tables, places to sign, and lunch. Another hour went by before he could stand on the thresh hold and feel the heat. Like so many others in this place in line, he put his hands over the closest heater. When it was time to move forward, he stomped his boots and took a step.

"Next!"

The line moved forward, the person at the front walked up to an empty place at one of the tables.

"Have you ever noticed," the person ahead of Sonic turned around to chat. "That the line always seems to move faster the closer to the front of the line you are?"

"Not really." Sonic shook his head slightly. "Do you ever get that happy feeling, when someone gets behind you, and you realize that you're not the last one in line anymore?"

He chuckled a bit. "Maybe."

"Next!"

"That's you, pal." Sonic nudged him forward.

"Oh yeah." He strode up to the empty table.

Someone else vacated a spot at another table. The old goat sitting there lifted his eyes to the first in line.

Sonic walked up to him. "Hello."

The old goat had a sour expression on his old wrinkled face. "Just fill out the form and get out of my hair, son."

"Ok then," Sonic scanned the paper. Legal name, date of birth, place of birth, boxes to check for areas of experience, boxes to check for preferred line of work. Everything else was for officials down the hall to fill out. Typical. He quickly filled it out and moved on through to the hall.

"Ne-e-e-e-eckst!" the cranky old goat groaned.

Sonic felt sorry for the poor souls still in line. He handed his paper to the first nurse he met down the hall. The nurse measured such things as how tall he was and sent him on to the next nurse in a white hat. This nurse stuck his finger with a tiny needle and told him to squeeze a drop of blood onto this white paper. Sonic did so. The nurse scanned the paper, looked at the scanner with a quizzical expression, and said, "Go to outdoor field training area three, I believe you know the way."

It was Sonic's turn to raise eyebrows.

"But if you don't, there are maps at every corner." He waved him on.

Of course Sonic knew the way, vaguely. But how did that nurse know he knew? Sonic glanced over his shoulder and calmly made his way back to the freezing outside to find field training area three. In contrast to all the other training areas, which now held a growing dozen of people each, training area three was showing just a bundled together group of five winter snow coats. Six, counting his own.

The troops of training area three got one lit fire to themselves, and everyone was crowded around it. Sonic picked a spot between the two shortest people and tapped the taller guy's shoulder. "Mind if I join you guys?"

"Nice for you to join us, Sonic," he said. Then he pulled back his hood, revealing a scaly purple complexion complete with large yellow horn.

"Espio?" Sonic grinned and looked around at the faces.

"Hey! It's the Sonic man!" Vector's drum voice bellowed out.

"Yeah! Yeah! Sonic's here! Sonic's here!" Charmy grabbed Sonic's hand and tugged him in hard for a slap on the back.

Sonic laughed. "Boy am I glad to see you guys still together! Now, I wonder how we all ended up in the same place?"

"It's the Chaos Energy," a lady's voice spoke from one of the remaining two bundles. "When they poked you and scanned your blood, they saw the unusually high concentration of Chaos Energy, and sent you here to be with us."

"It looks like they're putting all us with higher Chaos Energy together," a husky, yet pinched voice emanated from the last bundle.

"And you two would be…?" Sonic looked at them.

"Come on Snails! Your memory isn't as corroded as I already think it is, is it?" He tilted his head so the fire light caught his yellow beak a little better.

"Jet the Hawk." Sonic turned his head to the girl. "And Wave the Swallow."

"Correction!" Wave lifted a finger. "Jet and Wave of Babylon! As per our legal names."

Jet tilted his head, perplexed by the lack of Sonic's retaliation.

"So, Sonic." Espio put his hood back up. "We've already heard from these two, and told them our dull story. Where have you been keeping yourself?"

Sonic sighed. "Anywhere but here."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jet cockily asked.

"Oh, shut it!" Vector snapped at him. "It's bad enough I have to stand by you. So don't make it worse on our friend! He's lost a lot! And so have the rest of us. Don't make me…"

"Do something foolish? You don't need my help for that!" Jet traced a line across Vector's chin. "Just look at that jaw!"

"Dude, how did _that_ get there?" Sonic shifted uneasily.

Vector glared at Jet, then Espio. He answered Sonic, "Let's just say that you can never be too careful about _what_ your friends are these days. I got this the day we discovered that the M can't bleed."

Sonic eyed the lizard standing next to him. "And…"

"Say no more, please." Espio put his hand up. "Not even the best of us are immune to mistakes. We should all follow Vector's example and focus on the better aspects of day to day life."

A tall human in uniform approached them. He had no hat nor hood, and they could see the ice in his eyes. "Is this the lot of you then?"

"Well," Wave shaded her eyes and looked toward the line. "We were hoping Storm would be joining us…"

"Come with me." He turned around and marched off.

They all looked at each other. Sonic shrugged and was the first to start following him. The soldier led them to a small cold room with nothing in it, but at least they were out of the wind and snow. The soldier opened an outside door and stood aside while they filed in and stood around. He entered and closed the door. He turned around, nodded at the sight that everyone was standing in a rough circle. "I already know who all of you are. I am Captain Clinch. My job is to direct your actions according to my superiors. You are never to question my orders. You will all address me as 'sir.' I am not a family man, so I will not stand for any childish behavior. You are never to ask me for toys."

Sonic raised his hand, frowning.

Captain Clinch glared at him. "You are never to speak to me unless I speak to you first. You are never to voice your complaints about comfort, weather, fashion or luxuries. I am your commanding officer, not your friend."

"Excuse me sir, but I believe I speak for the rest of us when…"

"Soldier!" the captain snapped. "You are out of order! Drop and give me twenty!"

Sonic stared back at him. "How you want 'em? Left, right, clapping, or on my back?"

"Thirty!"

Sonic rolled his eyes and decided to do pushups the easy way.

"Forty!"

"Dude! Make up your mind!" Vector growled at him.

"You," Captain Clinch eyed Vector. "Fifty!"

Sonic stood up.

The captain looked at Sonic again. "You have yet to complete your order, soldier!"

"You want me to do them again?" Sonic got down and counted out forty more pushups. It took him less than ten seconds. He stood up again. "Happy?"

Captain Clinch stepped toe to toe with Sonic so that he was tilting his head almost directly down. "_'Happy'_?"

Sonic held his gaze. "Yes, sir. Are you happy now?"

"Your task is not to please me, soldier. Neither is it to try and make me scared of you. For the time being, all you have to worry about is following my orders, and keeping your mouth shut. Are we clear?"

Sonic looked him up and down. He nodded. "I feel better about our relationship already sir. It's good to know that neither of us are afraid of the other."

Charmy's hand flew to his mouth, stifling a giggle. Wave rolled her eyes, while Jet's were showing a new sense of miniscule respect for Sonic. In all this, Vector finished doing his pushups, Espio smiled, and the captain's complexion turned the slightest shade of pale pink.

"Sir." Sonic politely smiled back, but there was a twinkle in his eyes.

The captain lifted his nose an inch. "If you ever speak to me like that again, I will make you regret ever leaving the pitiful little shack you were born in."

Sonic stopped smiling, now coolly staring through him.

"Hmph." Captain Clinch appraised the facial expressions of his other charges, particularly the Chaotixs' apparent vengeful appetites. "I'll expect no more attitude from any of you." Everyone held the exact same blank stare with him, so he continued. "From this moment on, none of you are anything special compared to anyone else. Forget whatever titles you held before this day, any statuses, any honors. You are all dumb kids with no formal training. You are not heroes, nor freedom fighters, nor gangs, nor anything else you might come up with to say that you are. On this day, you are nothing. Do not expect any special privileges or creature comforts, I will not give them to you. Now, you are to report to your assigned quarters and remain there until general assembly at O five hundred hours tomorrow." He produced a number of identification bracelets (dog tags on chains), checked the names, and passed them out.

Sonic looked at his.

Maurice of Christmas Island

928597

#4

"Your barrack identification numbers are on the bottom, in case anyone gets lost." Captain Clinch lifted his long pointy nose one last time before exiting the room, leaving the door open.

"What's your number Sonic?" Charmy grabbed Sonic's wrist. "Four! Same as me! Wait…"

Sonic pulled his hand back.

"But it doesn't have your name on it!" Charmy protested.

"Why shouldn't it?" Vector displayed his extra-large chained bracelet. "Mine has my name on it. V-e-k-t-o-r. Hey! They spelled my name wrong!"

"Calm down, Vector. What's your cabin number?" Espio put a hand on Vector's arm.

Vector grunted. "Four."

Espio nodded. "Same as mine."

"And mine," Jet had angled his tag towards himself, but he was staring Sonic down like a hawk.

"So I'm the one left out in the cold, huh?" Wave walked out of there.

Charmy was still fascinated by the name he'd seen. "Sonic, that's not _your_ name on that!"

"Yes it is," Sonic flipped the tag upside down and tucked the entire bracelet under his sleeve. "And you're not going to tell _anyone_ what you saw," he leaned over a bit and pointed a finger between Charmy's eyes. "Understand?"

Charmy started going cross eyed. "Uh, absolutely. I'd hate it if I had been given _that_ name."

"Ok, I've got to see this!" Jet shoved Charmy aside.

Sonic laughed. "Yeah, I bet you'd kill to see what's on there."

"Maybe." Jet grinned and crossed his arms.

"Too bad for you then, huh?" Sonic also crossed his arms. "Everyone knows how sleek you looked on that Extreme Gear, but you've never actually had any experience in hand to hand combat, have you?"

Jet squinted. "Are you threatening me?"

Sonic stepped outside, and waited for Jet to follow. He put his arm around Jet's shoulders. "There's an old saying I'd like to share with you. 'Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.' Get the picture?"

"Are we enemies?" Jet asked.

Sonic shoved him away and looked him in the eye. "I'll let you decide."


	14. Chapter 13 Chaos Freaks

Chaos Freaks

_Sonic walked down a dark metallic hallway, following his ears. Voices speaking, fingers typing, radios talking. Everything looked sounded and smelled very familiar, as though all were part of a part of him that had died three years ago._

_And then he found what he was looking for. Sonic saw Omega, himself, Rouge, Mighty, and Tails all standing in front of a closed door. He could see them, but if they knew he was watching them and knowing what was going to happen, his memories did nothing to acknowledge his presence._

"_Oh, please," he said to himself. "Why here? Why now?"_

_Omega blasted open the doors and Tails turned on the lights. Sonic heard the robot in the distance, waking from its sleep. He wondered if it would see him. He watched as himself and the Rouge M have their little heart to heart._

"_Go away!" Sonic shouted at the dream. "I already know what happens! Leave me alone! I don't want to watch Tails die all over again!" He waved his arms at it screaming, but none of them heard him._

_Then the dream Sonic touched the button that would seal the fate of that day. Rouge M's arm, leg, and ear fell off again, but they grew back._

"_I told you to leave me alone!" Sonic turned around._

_Rouge was there, standing in front of him. Without trying, he knew she wouldn't let him pass. "What if you'd been wrong?"_

"_What?"_

"_What if that really was me? What if you really did cut off my arm and leg? Would you feel anything for me? What would have happened?"_

_Sonic got so mad at her, he could have slapped her! But for some reason, he couldn't move. "If it had really been you, you wouldn't have acted like the forest was the plague! You wouldn't have caught that other M and then led us into a trap with false bait! Tails would still be alive! Mighty would still be alive! Omega would still be... whatever! And you would still be alive because if it was really you, I wouldn't have done that!"_

"_But you did," she continued. "And I would have bleed to death right then and there. And you would go through the rest of your life knowing you'd killed an innocent young woman, all to test a theory. And Omega would hunt you down to the ends of…"_

* * *

_BREEEEEEEEEKTKTKTKT!_

Sonic fought with the sheet until he saw the surprised expression of why his right arm couldn't move. Then he smacked Jet's forehead for trying to peak at his identification bracelet. Sonic rubbed his eyes and pushed the button that lit up the numbers on his watch. 5:01 am. "Oh, who's responsible for that awful noise?"

"ATTENTION!" the captain's voice.

"Naturally," Sonic mumbled and turned his head.

Captain Clinch glared impassively as groggy heads turned his direction. "Soldiers! Stand up straight with your feet on the floor and your arms at your sides and your eyes on me!"

Sonic sat up but bumped his head on the bunk above. He decided it would be better to roll out of bed than sit up, but waited until Vector, below, was standing. A moment later, Espio magically appeared beside Sonic and Charmy came bumbling down.

"Anybody get the number of that alarm truck?" Charmy rubbed his eyes.

The captain regarded the sleepy state of his charges for a minute. "When I give an order, I expect it to be followed. You were ALL to report to general assembly at O five hundred hours, NOT JUST JET!"

Jet, on the other side of Vector, produced a smug look that Sonic happened to catch in a stolen glance. _Tattle tale!_

"Sir?" Charmy's eyes weren't even half open yet. "What do you mean when you say five hundred hours?"

"Military time, soldier! You are all to accustom yourselves with military time." Probably the first generous thing Captain Clinch has said to them yet.

_I wonder if my watch can do military time?_ Sonic wondered. _I also wonder when breakfast is._

"General assembly begins in three minutes. Be in your uniforms and DO NOT BE LATE! Do I make myself clear?" the captain tilted his head.

"Yes sir," they more or less mumbled more or less simultaneously, with the exception of Jet. "Yes Sir!"

"Dismissed!" The captain turned on his heel, and exited the building.

"Oh, if I could go back to bed!" Espio sat on Vector's bunk and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"You might even get away with it," Charmy yawned. "Just turn invisible, and they'd never find you!"

"I highly doubt that!" Jet motioned to his glasses. "They probably have infrared equipment for use at night. They could use it and easily find you."

"I wonder when they're going to give us breakfast." Sonic looked around the room, noticing several other captains having the exact same problem as Captain Clinch.

"Breakfast is over!" Jet sneered. "You guys should be taking notes from Early Bird over here, who's always on time to breakfast. Unlike Snails."

Sonic smirked. "Yeah, Early Bird gets the _worm_, right?"

"Yep!" Jet stared back, confused. "I'm glad you agree…"

Vector busted out laughing. Then a look of enlightenment crossed Charmy's face and he giggled. Espio shrugged and shook his head. "I don't get it."

"Neither do I!" Jet gritted his teeth at Sonic.

Sonic smiled at Vector and held his hand out for him to answer.

Vector grinned and gladly obliged. "Jet, you're a hawk!"

Espio chuckled, then slapped Sonic on the back. "That's raw, man!"

"I still don't get what's going on here!" Jet held out his arms in confusion.

Sonic grabbed the bundle tied to the foot of his bunk and slipped into a thick warm soldier's uniform. "Hurry Jet, or you're going to be late to General Assembly." He ran out the door.

* * *

General Assembly was being held outside, and no wonder. No single room the old GUN had to offer could physically hold so many people. I mean, children. The sun hadn't risen yet and one could easily see plenty of stars, proof it was going to be a warmer day than yesterday. Snow still blanketed almost everything, and everyone had to stand as perfectly still as they could manage. Considering all things, 'perfectly still' meant a lot of shivering and jogging in place.

Several lights shown down on the field, so it wasn't extremely hard for Sonic to locate Wave and Captain Clinch. Jet followed right behind Sonic, and the Chaotix were plodding along less than a minute after. Captain Clinch inspected them one by one and bettered their postures. Then they all stood still for another minute as the ranks filled out, waiting for General Assembly to begin.

When it finally did, almost nobody listened. The current president of the country stood up (way up in the front of everything) and gave a lousy pep talk to which not a soul felt more energized. Giving up, he began reading off where various troops went where for training.

_Our groups have names?_ Sonic wanted to ask the Captain, but he knew what the answer would be.

"Unit Chaos, to Track 7!"

Sonic glanced at Captain Clinch, but he remained expressionless. He'd just have to wait and be patient.

* * *

"Alright kids, let's see what you're _really_ made of." Captain Clinch mumbled to himself. "Vector, Charmy, Wave, and Jet, ten laps, no flying!" He waited until those four were well on their way before looking at Espio. "Thirty laps, let's see what you can do."

Espio whistled at the half mile track, then quickly caught up to and surpassed the others.

Clinch put his eye on Sonic. "How many do you think you can do?"

"Give me at least Fifty to warm up, then let's bet on how many you think I can do in a minute." Sonic dared not jinx it by crossing his fingers for luck.

Clinch looked amused. "I'll take you up on that. Now get moving!"

Sonic walked over to the track and stood to the side while Espio ran passed. He did a few self-guided stretches until Wave, currently in last for her group, passed him a second time. Then he stepped to the middle of the track, saluted to Captain Clinch, and ran.

He'd forgotten how good it was to run. _Really_ run. Sonic bolted around the outer edge of the track, lapping everyone in just seconds. Then, just because plain old laps were too dull for him, he started running backwards. He caught up to Espio and cheered him for his final stretch, running backwards. After he was bored of backwards, he started spinning along the ground.

All the while, Captain Clinch watched him with a stop watch.

Sonic skid to a stop, sideways so he'd be facing the captain. Behind him, the Chaotix (except Charmy, who could be seen dragging his feet) cheered. Jet had crossed his arms and would have nothing to do with this. Sonic looked at Clinch. "Well?"

Clinch's mustache twitched in amusement. "If you think that impressed me you are very mistaken."

"Why? Because I didn't live up to my name just now?"

"The captain isn't satisfied with your performance, Snails!" Jet called out.

Sonic ignored him. He seemed to be doing a lot that lately.

The captain took a step closer and whispered, "I know how fast you can run. You're not fooling anyone. I say you can do eight hundred laps in under a minute."

Sonic smiled to himself. "Hmmm… And if I get more…?"

Captain Clinch shook his head. "You can't do more than nine hundred in under a minute."

"How about this," Sonic glanced over his shoulder. "If I get more than nine hundred, you stop referring to me, and my friends, as children."

Clinch's face hardened. "I do not take orders from you."

Sonic held up his hands and took a step back. "It's just a bet, Sir."

After a minute of cool down, about half the amusement returned. "You are a persistent one, aren't you?"

"I do my best."

"Very well, you have a bet." The captain held out his hand. In it was another bracelet, and a perimeter counter.

Sonic slid the bracelet over his left wrist and took the counter. "What's its range?"

"Two meters." The captain displayed a remote. "I am going to set this for one minute, and if the counter shows you've breached the perimeter over nine hundred times, I'll refrain from referring to you soldiers as children, because with the exception for Charmy, none of you are legally children anymore."

Sonic smiled and almost knelt with his fists on the ground.

Charmy huffed his way passed by and flopped on the bench. "What's happening?"

"You're all gona want some ear plugs," Sonic nodded at them, setting the counter on the edge of the grass.

"Five, four, three, two…" Captain Clinch pushed the button.

For the next fifty nine seconds, the entire countryside shook with rolling thunder. The young adults in line to sign up heard it. Everyone within the confines of the GUN facility heard it. Villages dotted all around heard it. Storm heard it as he signed his name. Amy heard it and she looked to the sky. A group of M traveling to the closest gathering place heard it. And the entire unit Chaos was deafened by it.

At the end of sixty seconds, Sonic skid to a halt, just as before. "WOW! I can't tell you how good it is to hear that!" He looked around at everyone. "What's wrong?"

"A LITTLE MORE WARNING WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE BEFORE IMPLODING OUR EAR DRUMS!" Wave stood up and shook her fist, shouting a little too loudly.

Sonic continued to stand there while Wave shouted obscenities at him. Sonic would flinch slightly and fold his ears back when she got too loud. When she stopped to take a breath, he took the advantage to ask, "You done yet?"

"Am I done yet, he asks…" she growled, showing her teeth.

"Yes, you are!" Captain Clinch approached, counter in hand. "Soldier Wave, you are to report directly to the admiral with this data stick!" He thrust a small gray stick in her hands.

Wave grabbed it from him and stomped away.

Sonic sighed, glad she was gone. "So… how did I do? That had to have been at least a thousand."

Clinch showed him the counter, displaying a tall skinny 1.

Sonic took it and looked at it. "How is that possible?!"

"I found it a few meters from my feet. Apparently, the repercussions of your breaking the sound barrier pushed it away from the track. Therefore, our bet is no longer valid."

Sonic thought about complaining, then he got a better idea. He tossed the counter back. "Ok. Let's face it. We're all over this whole training ritual, because now we're all just having fun with each other. I get it. We're all world famous stars, and no one knows what to do with us. So now Unit Chaos is a circus, and you're the ringmaster."

"You are out of order, Soldier."

Sonic turned around and walked to the bench.

* * *

I'm telling you it's him! We've found him!

And I'm telling you, you're imagining things.

Sir, we all witnessed the thunder, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky!

That's got to be proof that Sonic the Hedgehog is still around, and about to cause trouble! We've got to do something!

I agree, something drastic has to be done!

Like… break him?

Sir? We thought you…

Let's say you kids are right. Sonic is back. But if we pull out our secret weapon, we'll never have to worry about him again.

Is the secret weapon ready?

How long will it last, even if it is?

What's the secret weapon?

No one told you?

Nope.

No time to explain now. Besides, you probably wouldn't understand most of it anyway.

Understand what?

Nothing, go find your parents. They're probably worried about you.

I am one of his parents, sir.

Oh, well then… go find another one of your parents.

Fine! I'm only eighty nine! I'm too immature for ANY adult to talk to me!

I'd better go with my child, sir.

As you wish.

Is the secret weapon even ready, sir?

It's ready enough, but the effect won't last forever. Eventually, it will start remembering what it is and where it really comes from.

So our secret weapon isn't much of a weapon then, is it?

Not if we somehow… you know, cause its brain to degenerate, or something. Then Sonic will never truly have it back.

Ha ha ha! I love it! We'll make a fine scout out of you yet!

Thank you sir.

Well? Get going! We have to figure out how to do this!

Yes sir!

Right away, sir. Aww man! How come I couldn't have come up with that?

I was thinking the same thing. That dumb kid, who does he think he is? He's only two hundred thirty, for crying out loud!

… Never mind. Forget it.

Why? What's wrong?

… Do you ever think that maybe we're assimilating a little too much of the local culture? You just use one of their expressions.

… I did? Oops. It won't happen again. I hope.


	15. Chapter 14 The Secret Weapon

The Secret Weapon

Unit Chaos continued with dumb placement tests all day. In the end, Sonic was a scout, Espio and Vector were considered foot men, Jet became a strategist, Charmy a technician, and Wave was sent to go relearn appropriate conduct when in the presence of a superior officer. Sonic secretly hoped Jet would be on his way to join her soon. But while there were still more dumb tests to go through, and none of these dumb titles were final yet.

In other news, Storm finally showed up, but he was assigned to a different unit. However, he didn't let that stop him from eating meals with his friends, or saying hello whenever the chance presented itself.

Weeks passed. Spring finally solidified her arrival, the snow in the larger fields melted, and firing ranges were set up.

"Why do we need to learn how to shoot if the things we'd be shooting are shape shifters?" Charmy asked as they were shepherded into a line. "Any kind of bullet would just go straight through."

"Because blockheads are running this war, that's why." Sonic crossed his arms and obstinately stared at the wall.

"Don't worry, Sonic. You already explained to Captain Daddy how we feel about guns." Espio pulled out a throwing star and looked at it. "I'm afraid I'll be good at it. You don't have to worry about that."

"It won't be so bad, Snails!" Jet elbowed Sonic from behind. "We'll just be shooting targets."

Sonic turned around. "It won't be just a target when we're shooting at things for real."

"Hmmm…" Jet mockingly put a finger on his chin. "I _so hope_ I don't hit you."

"Silence in the line, please," an officer distributing guns called out. She turned to Charmy. "Ah, Unit Chaos! Everyone's heard about you."

Sonic quietly groaned to himself.

"Yes Ma'am!" Charmy saluted.

"However," she tapped a computerized tablet in her hands. "I have your record on hand, Charmy, and it appears that you're not to be issued any class of firearm."

Charmy shrugged. "Shooting shape shifters seems pointless anyway." He stepped out of line.

She smiled and looked to Espio.

"Despite whatever you will say, my accuracy would be better served utilizing that which I already know how to use." Espio bowed respectfully in the ninja manner.

She smiled sadly. "You are still required to carry a firearm and know how to use it." She handed him a small hand gun.

Espio frowned stepped up to receive his weapon.

Sonic was next.

"And the very famous Sonic himself!"

"I will not take any kind of gun."

She paused. "That's not your decision."

"May I use Chaos Attacks instead?"

Jet laughed. "You can't use those without a Chaos Emerald!"

"No," Sonic half looked over his shoulder. "I can't, can I?"

"Can you?" Vector asked. "Wait! You have a Chaos Emerald!?"

Sonic turned back to the woman. "Not yet."

She glanced around, slightly frightened. "Ummm…"

"What seems to be the problem?" An admiral appeared from another line.

"This soldier won't take a gun," she quickly stated.

"This soldier is currently sensing the presence of a Chaos Emerald," Sonic corrected.

"Let me see your identification," the admiral held up a tablet.

Sonic extended his left wrist while he scanned it.

Jet huffed and folded his arms.

"Hmmm…" the admiral quickly glanced over Sonic's file. "Please come with me."

Sonic followed him out of line, out of the room, out of the building. The officer led him into the smallest conference room in the entire complex: the Commander's old office. Already here were two other admirals and a number of captains, including Captain 'Daddy' Clinch. Suffice it to state that the change in Clinch's expression was enough to quiet the room.

"What's he doing here?" Clinch addressed the admiral.

The admiral regarded Sonic's presence. "He refuses to take a gun. Any kind of gun."

Clinch glared at Sonic. "Soldier! I order you to carry a gun!"

"You see, that's the thing, Sir." Sonic politely held his gaze. "As is very well known, I'm not used to following orders. It's still a little new to me. I don't quite have the hang of it yet, sir."

A couple of the other captain chuckled softly at Clinch's expense. The audacity! Here was this nineteen year old boy in a room full of captains and admirals, and he was refusing a direct order.

"Why will you not carry a gun?" Clinch sternly asked.

Sonic felt glad that he was where he was. "Because they are instruments of death and destruction. The moral behind using a gun goes against everything I've ever stood for."

"I can force you to hold a gun," the captain said.

"You'd have to kill me."

Dead silence. The people of power exchanged looks with each other. As the options stood, they could either kick Sonic out, put him on trial for refusing a direct order, or kill him to make him hold a gun. But they needed him, badly. Sonic knew they had a Chaos Emerald, and he was the only known person alive who could use it properly. In all reality, there was a definite chance that Sonic was the best soldier they had, yet he was refusing to play their way. That left only one option.

The admiral sitting at the desk quietly folded his hands. "Captain, would you please brief your charge about the secret weapon? Outside?"

Clinch escorted the stubborn rebel out of the conference room. They began walking slowly down the halls. He sighed. "It seems that events have rapidly escalated to the point where Unit Chaos can no longer be kept in the dark."

Sonic guessed that this was one of those unofficial moments. "It's about time!"

Clinch half smiled and shook his head. "Your reputation doesn't do you justice, Sonic."

"I guess I'll need to work on fixing that then."

The smile vanished. "Yes, you need to fix a lot of things."

Sonic looked down. "Anyway, there was something you were supposed to tell me?"

Clinch firmed his chin, he hated being rushed. "We think we found a way for there to be no friendly fire in this game. With those guns, you won't be firing actual bullets, but capsules. These capsules are made of a material that instantly dissolves in acid, and it carries a chemical base so powerful, it will probably take a good chunk of M monster with it."

"In other words, you upgraded our guns so that we're still killing them, but not each other."

"Given the impact is sure to leave a bruise, but that is the main idea."

"That's underhanded. Don't get me wrong, I'm burning with revenge just as much as anybody. But won't killing them off prove to them that we are just like them?"

Clinch stopped. He folded his hands behind his back. "You don't understand, but I don't blame you. You were out of the loop for three years. In that time, we made contact with them, we asked them to leave, we showed them how powerful we are, we gave them a chance to regroup and surrender. And do you know what happened? Those M that we were talking with rampaged through these halls. They opened every door, every panel, looking for people. This entire complex fell silent less than fifteen minutes after they let in five little M monsters for negotiations. I was part of the search for survivors and do you know what we found?" He paused, staring into Sonic's huge eyes. "Skeletons. Everywhere. Sitting in chairs of offices. Lying face down in the hall as though they'd been kill running for their lives. Piles in the showers and bathrooms. There were even skeletons in the space between ceilings and floors. All shapes and sizes, all dead, all eaten alive from hiding places that the M found. They are monsters, and don't you forget it! They don't have souls, and therefore it is no more wrong to kill them that it is to hunt dumb animals and fish. You will be doing Mobius a service to destroy them, Hero, just as you were doing daily years ago with Dr. Eggman."

"I didn't kill Eggman."

"You destroyed his robots."

"I set free everyone he captured. I made right what he made wrong. All I did was stop him from doing much more than that."

"Ah, yes. But Eggman wasn't out to kill anyone either. He merely required stopping on a day to day basis. These monsters exist only to destroy, and in order to save the world this time, you need to pick up a gun and learn how to shoot it."

Sonic crossed his arms. "Let me rephrase what I said earlier. I WILL NOT KILL!"

"Even if the world depended on it?"

Sonic looked as though he'd turned to stone.

"What if I told you that you could bring Tails back, but you'd have to kill an M to do it?"

_Tails._ Sonic felt as though he'd been sliced in half through the gut, stabbed in the heart, had his tong ripped out, and was now being forced to answer the question. He didn't answer for a minute, until he understood what the Captain was telling him. He looked him straight in the eyes. "… I heard rumors that the M took prisoners, are they true?"

Stunned, Clinch said nothing.

"Does your little bit of incentive mean that Tails is alive? That you know where he is? And for the last six weeks you DIDN'T tell me!?"

Clinch kept silent. Then he said, "Everything is on a need to know basis. If you were to know sensitive information, and an M were to touch you…"

But Sonic didn't hear the rest. _BOOM!_ He was outside. _BOOM!_ He had his hands around a Chaos Emerald. _BOOM!_ He was running lightning fast across the plains of endless grass and hills, his feet not even damp from crossing the Great River.

* * *

Well, it looks like he's on his way.

I wonder what finally got it through his head.

We should get ready. Places everyone!

* * *

Wake up! Let's go outside, I have a great new game for us to play!

Cool! What is it?

I call it, Homeland Defense One. What do you think?

Is there ever going to be a Homeland Defense Two?

Maybe, that depends on whether we win Homeland Defense One or not. Hurry! Time is a wasting!

I'm right behind you! How do we play?

Well, I got word that a solid is coming here, and with Homeland Defense One, we defend our homeland!

Ok. What's that mean?

We fight with it and make sure it doesn't get The Secret Weapon.

Cool! I can't wait until it gets here!

Do you perceive that cloud of dust over there?

I see it.

That's where our enemy will be coming from. Get ready, it's almost here!

* * *

Sonic charged down the mountains, tiny bumps in the road. He was entering the Great Basin, a desert area now known to be the perfect natural bowel for the M to live in, and therefore be inhabited by them. Ahead of him, he saw a gigantic pool of liquid shiny stuff that looked like mercury, a pool that ended in an abrupt curve like that of a drop of water on a coin. All around this end of the drop, the M walked around wearing stolen faces. They seemed to be building something. However, Sonic focused on the group of M facing him. Their knees were bent, claws up, and all of them wore Mobian faces, two of which looked like Tails as he was three years ago.

Sonic slid to a halt in the midst of them and held up the Chaos Emerald. A ripple of Chaos Energy splashed from it, passing through him painlessly but causing all the M around him to cry out and fall to the ground in liquid lumps. The M were helpless against pure gentle Chaos Energy, but they kept coming. A few would jump above the ring, only to have the next one slice through them. The melting bodies were creating a pool around Sonic, so he jumped over it and proceeded further through the M camp.

Ahead were two individuals appearing like himself and Tails. Sonic ran up to them as they charged at him. The Sonic M was quick enough to get within an inch of Sonic's face when it tried to slap him with a melted hand. But the other one did something amazing. He flew. At that instant Sonic's heard skipped and he knew that his search hadn't been in vain.

No M imitating Tails could fly the way he did, so Sonic grabbed Tails's arm and raced out of the Great Basin as fast as he could. They were just at the top of the mountains when something knocked him down.

* * *

Captain Clinch uttered a few swear words as he made his way to the firing ranges, right after Sonic bolted. He found Charmy sitting on the side, watching Espio, Vector, Jet, and Wave turn wooden red a white circles into saw dust.

Charmy turned his head at Captain Daddy's approach, then shouted, "Captain on the grounds!"

Instantly the five of them stood up and faced Clinch.

Clinch muttered to himself some more. "Your friend has made off for the Great Basin. Go bring him back!"

"Yes sir!" they shouted simultaneously.

"Just get me a type speed Extreme Gear and I'll have him back in ten minutes." Jet took off his helmet.

"All of you report to the specialized transportation facility at once!" Clinch indicated the way. He watched them as they ran off, then made haste to the specialized weaponry facility, just to verify his worst dread.

The lieutenant was juggling boxes, opening this one or that one, checking what was inside.

"Lieutenant!"

He snapped to attention and faced the captain, letting fall a dozen little boxes.

"What happened here?"

"Well sir… I'm not quite sure myself sir. I was just doing my job when I thought I heard an explosion. I stood up and saw a bright blue hedgehog in here, behind my desk. I've never seen anything like it! He went straight up to the Chaos Emerald's box and took the Chaos Emerald! He didn't even bother with any of the decoys! I mean, I know every box in this closet, and I couldn't even fine any specific one of them _that_ fast. Sir. What was it sir?"

"Sonic the Hedgehog." Clinch lightly bit his lower lip and growled. "And he's one of the best." _Now how are we ever going to rebuild that cannon if he loses the Chaos Emerald?_


	16. Chapter 15 Washed Clean

Washed Clean

Sonic spat out a mouthful of muddy snow, jumped to his feet and faced his attacker with all his years of experience behind him. "Tails?"

Tails charged, faked him out with a high punch and landed a low kick in the gut. Sonic curled into a ball to ride out the force of the kick. Tails came at him again, clawing and kicking and punching at the curled up Sonic, probably hurting himself much more than he was physically harming Sonic.

But that wasn't entirely true. Sonic was trying to figure out why Tails was attacking him, until he realized what three and a half years of torture could do to someone. Suddenly he rolled out of the way and stood up. "TAILS! LISTEN TO ME!"

"HARG!" Tails flew at Sonic, but Sonic caught his arm and threw him further down the mountain.

Sonic jumped on Tails before he hand a chance to stand up.

"LET ME GO THIS INSTANT OR I'LL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF AND EAT IT!" Tails shouted in Sonic's face.

"WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU!?" Sonic shouted back.

"RELEASE ME!" Tails thrashed violently under him, but Sonic grabbed Tails's middle before he could escape. "I swear I will leave you a pile of bones IF YOU DON'T RELEASE ME NOW!" His cries echoed off the other snowcapped mountains.

Sonic felt tears forming in his eyes. "So that's it, huh? They made you think you're one of them?"

Tails glared back, and Sonic had a good long look at the eyes of his best friend. Where there had once been sunshine and happiness there was now a murderous hue the flavor of fresh blood. There was no trace of the friendship they'd shared or the adventures they had had together. Nothing in there would admit that the being Sonic held onto shared anything with the one whom Sonic had almost ran over, whom had befriended Sonic when Sonic had tried to leave him behind, whom was the best sidekick a guy could ask for, whom had stayed by Sonic's side through thick and thin, who had created the virus that destroyed Eggman, who had dragged Sonic away from the carnage of Christmas Island, or who had pitifully screamed for Sonic's help and Sonic was unable to give it. There was nothing of Tails left in those eyes. The only thing Sonic saw in those eyes looked like the same thing as he only saw in another M. "What have they done to you?"

"GET OFF OF ME!"

"Or you'll turn to your acid state!? I dare you!" Sonic hugged Tails so tight, Tails started gasping for breath. "Go on! Turn to acid! Liquefy! What's the matter? Huh!? Finding out that you can't!?"

Tails got an arm free and reached for a stick. Sonic grabbed Tails's arm before he reached the stick, keeping his other arm tight around Tails's middle. He slowly stood up, picking up a screaming kicking fox out of the thin snow.

"STOP!" an M Rouge at the top of the hill screamed at them. She flew down the slope and kicked Sonic in the back of the head.

Sonic dropped his hold on Tails as he was slammed against a tree. Breathless, he turned around to block her next attack.

_Pow!_

Rouge M dropped into the snow. She started scooping up all the snow around her and shoving it into her shiny body.

_Pew!_

"AHH!" Tails flinched and smacked himself against a big rock.

Sonic looked down the hill. "Chaotix! Hurry!" Sonic turned to the M Rouge again and held out the Chaos Emerald. "Get out of here! Go back to your little bowl, or I'll use this."

She melted and slithered up the mountain side.

Jet crashed through the trees on an Extreme Gear board, came about, and grabbed Sonic on his way out. "Don't worry, Snails. Vector and Espio got the Fly!"

"Let go of me Jet!" Sonic pushed Jet's arms away from around his middle.

"Very well." Jet twisted into a quark screw, dumping Sonic and dropping an extra board.

Sonic managed to grab it and get on before hitting the ground. He doubled back through the trees until he saw Vector and Espio together with Tails, on a board of his own, prisoner between them. A little further on and he saw Wave with a gun, finishing off the M of Rouge. He turned around again and followed Jet back to base.

* * *

Tails threw himself against the padded cement wall again, screaming his head off.

Everyone watched this sad story from behind cameras hidden everywhere in that room. At least he'd stopped trying to pull out his fur as proof he was an M.

Tails had obviously been brainwashed, but the doctor wasn't back with the report yet. Somehow, as Sonic sat by himself near one of the screens, he felt responsible. _How could we have been so stupid? We should have chased that thing! I could have saved you! Tails! You're my best friend, and I let you down when you needed me most! Now look at what they've done to you._ Sonic sat up. _What if the Mighty that helped me back then was really an M? That monster could have killed the real Mighty, threw him outside after turning off the power, knocked Tails out, and then come back to convince me that Tails was dead! How stupid of me!_ But then Tails caught his eye again.

The yellow fox had finally found the door and was pounding against it with both fists when he slipped and fell to the floor, sobbing. He wasn't fighting or shouting, just putting on the most pathetic waterworks display one could imagine. Eventually, Tails crawled over to a corner, folded up, and flopped over. He'd stopped crying, now laying on his side with his eyes open.

Sonic told his camera to zoom in on Tails's face. He studied what he saw there and found that the spark of M that was in there on the mountain had mostly flickered out. He sighed with relief.

The doctor came in and everyone gathered around. "Except for several scars and some tissue damage, physically he's fine. However, it appears that every recess of his brain has been stuffed with M information."

"What does that mean?" Charmy, shadowing the camera switch board operator, asked.

The doctor took off his glasses. "Do you know how the top part of your brain is used for memory and complex thinking?"

"Yeah,"

"In everyone, most of that storage space up there is empty, unused. In our patient here, all that extra room has been filled with extra memories. Random things, most appear like they are the lifetime memories of more than a thousand different alien species."

"So you're saying that the M made it as though Tails has the memories and experiences of random aliens? Just like them?" Sonic frowned at the camera screens. _What have I done to you?_

"I believe so, sadly." He leaned in to one of the monitors. "Oh, well it looks like he's made some progress already."

"Progress?" Sonic perked up a little.

He nodded. "I admit I don't have any experience with this exact form of sociological trauma, but in most cases the patient just needs some counseling. That is, anywhere from a few visits to several years of counseling. But since he's stopped fighting, well, I think we should take that as a good sign."

Sonic slumped on the table. "Will Tails ever be back to normal again?"

The doctor smiled sadly and quietly said, "I cannot honestly answer that question. Sonic… Tails's brain has pretty much been washed clean of who he is. In my opinion, it would take a miracle for Tails to come back to us. But who knows? Somewhere in there is a perseverant fighter, and statistics aren't based on people like him." He left the observation room, closing the door softly behind him.

Sonic continued watching Tails, like watching a bug under a microscope. But Tails wasn't doing anything other than lying on his side in the corner. Eventually, Sonic stood up to go find the rest of the Chaotix. Charmy followed him.

He found the whole crew in the workout room, but not much working out was going on. They were all just sitting around, talking. Like a blanket descending from the ceiling, Sonic sensed the not quite sudden silence as he and Charmy entered the room. "What's the matter?"

"You," Captain Clinch spoke from the other side of the door.

"Me?" Charmy joined the Chaotix.

"Not you, kido. Me." Sonic looked at Clinch. "I ran off on my own little whim, stealing the Chaos Emerald, neither of which happened with permission."

Clinch nodded. "Not to mention risking the lives of your comrades by forcing me to send them after you."

"I keep trying to tell ya!" Vector rumbled. "We would have run off just the same as soon as we found out!"

"That is not your concern," the captain gave him a look, then returned to Sonic. "You will have to be court martialed."

Sonic laughed. "How can you court martial me when I'm not even out of training yet?"

Clinch took a step towards him. "Appear in the conference room at o nine hundred hours, and find out."

"There's sort of a way out of this," Espio nodded his head. "You can chose to claim guilty, show remorse by turning yourself in, and most of the punishments will be waived. But, you will be forced to resign."

"Good," Sonic turned to Captain Clinch. "I turn myself in."

"Snails!" Jet grinned. "You came all this way just to quit six weeks later?"

"I came looking for a friend, and I found four." Sonic smiled at him. "I'm counting myself lucky."

"You can't quit!" Charmy protested. "After all! We just found each other! You can't just _leave_!"

"Watch me," Sonic looked down to Charmy.

"Then I quit with you!"

Wave smacked her head.

Sonic sighed. "Charmy…"

"Me too." Espio stood up. "We all have lost too much to willingly lose each other again."

"Oh alright!" Vector smiled. "You guys are on to something with this friendship deal. Friends are friends! And that's all there is to it!"

Clinch shook his head. "None of the rest of you are leaving either. You must petition to be discharged from…"

"You guys are just stupid!" Jet cackled. "I mean, we came here to make a change in the world, right? How can you do that if you leave?"

"No one said _we_ had to leave, Jet." Wave glared at the Chaotix. "We'll just be reassigned to another unit."

"Hey Captain Daddy, can we get this kicking us out the door over with now?" Sonic stood by the door, ready to follow.

Clinch's face turned a tad bit pink. "Not right now, we have to schedule that during a convenient time!"

Vector shrugged. "That's ok. That'll give us time to look up where the best hospital for Tails is."

"Why do we need to find a hospital for Tails?" Charmy pushed open the door.

Espio stepped outside. "Well, we can't just leave him here, can we? He's our friend in trouble, and friends stand by each other when they're in trouble."

"Yeah! We can't just abandon Tails!" Vector lead the way to the military computer room. "After all, what does that doctor know? Did you see his records? His job is to save people's lives from mortal wounds. What does he know about brains?"

"Probably nothing but the basics, and that's why we'd be abandoning Tails if we left him here." Sonic held the next door open for everyone. _And I can't do that again. I can't abandon Tails again._

* * *

Cali. That's where the best hospital was. That's what Sonic was thinking about as he casually walked what might have normally been a death march for most soldiers. Too bad the _whole_ unit had to be there.

The head admiral folded his hands on the desk. "Maurice of Christmas Island, you are charged with disobeying a direct order, stealing property of the military, and risking the lives of your comrades in an unnecessary venture. How to you plea?"

_I hope Jet's enjoying himself!_ Sonic listened to him snicker behind him. "Guilty."

The admiral nodded. "You are hereby forced to resign from military service."

Sonic nodded back. He then took a chair while the Chaotix formally asked for permission to leave.

Jet grinned at him.

Sonic smirked back.

Wave rolled her eyes at them.

"… and if that will be all..." the admiral set his hands on the desk.

"Actually, there is one more thing we'd like," Espio spoke up. "We'd like the infirmary to release the patient Miles Prower into our custody for transportation to a larger medical ward."

"Custody granted," the admiral moaned, probably because it was seventeen hundred hours and he was itching to leave. "Everyone dismissed." He stood up.

Everyone in the room rose to attention as he walked out. Then as soon as Unit Chaos stepped out into fresh air…

"YIPPIE!" Sonic and the Chaotix leaped for joy.

Vector grabbed Sonic's arm. "Man! I feel like celebrating!"

"Me too!" Charmy flew into the air. "Let's do something!"

Espio smiled. "How about we officially make Sonic one of the Chaotix?"

Sonic laughed. "Really guys? You're sounding like you planned this."

"They did,_ Marty_." Jet sneered. "Your parents really named you 'Maurice'? What a wimpy name!"

"Yeah, why do you think I go by Sonic?" Sonic shrugged and smirked at Jet. "What I don't get is why loving and caring parents would name their kid 'Jet'. What kind of name is that?"

"HEY!"

"Jet!" Wave grabbed Jet's arm. "Stop harassing the _civilians_."

"Yeah Jet!" Charmy giggled. "Stop harassing us!"

Captain Clinch made an appearance. "I hope I'm not interrupting any heartfelt goodbyes between comrades."

"We haven't gotten that far yet," Sonic smirked at Jet. "But give things a minute or two, and I'm sure we'll be hugging each other's throats before you know it."

Clinch turned to Sonic. "You must be off then, lest the lot of you be charged with loitering."

"We'll take that for what it is, Dad." Vector gave that stick of a human a big crocodile hug. "We love you too!"

Clinch stiffened. "I wish you well, but that is all."

"Aww, he's just being stone face!" Charmy giggled. "But don't worry Captain Papa! I still believe you've got a heart!"

"Somewhere," Espio looked up at him without moving his head.

They all laughed on their way to the infirmary.

"Well Sonic?" Vector slapped Sonic on the back. "Want to officially join the Chaotix?"

"Sure!" Sonic smiled. "Team Chaotix…" he whispered softly to himself.


	17. Chapter 16 Tails's Tale

Tails's Tale

He jumped when the door moved. It wasn't time to eat! There was a stranger at the door to his solid little world. That was not normal. Scary! He hid under the thick blanket, leaving a small hole through which to see these intruders.

"Hello?"

He didn't answer. To answer would be suicide.

"Tails?" A big blue face with humongous eyes and smile peeked under the blanket.

He knew this face. This was the face that smashed him to a thousand pieces. And here was that owner of that face, in his territory. He jumped on the intruder for invading his solid little world.

"Ahh!" the blue intruder screamed in agony. It fought back.

He jumped away and threw the blanket over the intruder. "Ha ha! Take that!" He jumped on the intruder to finish him off. But as soon as he jumped on the moving blanket, the two arms of the intruder wrapped around him in a death grip from under the blanket. "NO! NO! I TAKE IT BACK! DON'T HURT ME!" The intruder let go, so he cowered in the corner. He was at the intruder's mercy.

Faster than one could blink, the blanket whipped off the intruder and settled on the floor by his feet. He was about three and a half feet tall, mostly a mild blue, and had green eyes. Friendly green eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said, slowly and evenly.

"How do I know that?!" he whimpered from the corner.

The intruder sighed and dejectedly stared off into the corner. He sat down, right where he was in the middle of the floor. There, the blue man folded his hands under his chin and… nothing. He just sat there, watching. Finally he spoke. "Do you know who I am?"

He thought for a while. "Yes!"

The intruder perked up with happy excitement. "Really?!"

"Yes! You killed me!"

There was a long pause while the energy of the moment drained away. "What else?" the stranger asked.

"You kidnapped me! You took me away from the…" Stop to think of what to call them. "I don't know. You kidnapped me!"

"And?"

Why was this total stranger asking so many questions? "And…" He looked at the stranger, trying to remember anything specific.

_For an instant, a vision of an airplane flashed across his mind's eye. Airplanes. Wind. Air. Flying. Adventure… Speed… Exploring… Airships… Robots… Fighting… Fighting robots in the air with a speedy airplane. Being destroyed by the intruder._

"And airplanes," he said.

"Airplanes?" The stranger seemed to think about this. "What color were they?"

"How am I supposed to know!?" He stood up and walked around the stranger. "You come in here and start interrogating me and expect me to know everything! Well, I have a question for you! Why are you here?"

"I came to tell you that we're going on a little trip."

"Where?"

"West."

"The sunset."

"Yes. We're going to a place called Cali."

"The ocean."

The stranger smiled. "Are you ready?"

"Am _I_ ready?" What, was he stupid? "What about me? You said that you were going to Cali."

"And you too."

He crossed his arms. "Why?"

"Because we're your friends and we want to make you feel better."

"I feel fine."

"Sure you do." The intruder stood up and faced him. "Prove it to me. Tell me what makes an airplane go."

"What?!" He shook his head. "I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Want an easier one?"

"Yes."

"What's your name?"

Stumped. "But… But… That's not fair!"

"Would you like to remember things like airplanes and your name?"

He felt water drops forming under his eyelids. "Yes! Yes! Tell me!"

"I can't."

"WHY NOT!?"

"Because you are not well. You need to remember things on your own. On your own terms, at your own pace. You can't do that here, so I and some friends are going to take you to Cali. In Cali there is a safe place where some doctors are going to help you do that. Will you come with us?"

He thought about it for a while. "Ok. I'll come with you."

The stranger smiled and held out his hand.

"What's that?"

"A sign of friendship, we hold each other's hands as we leave."

He put his hand inside the stranger's hand. Somehow, it felt right.

* * *

Sonic escorted the two tailed fox outside. This felt _so_ wrong. The Tails he knew was brilliant, could build a speed plane blindfolded, and was a bit shorter. The strange yellow fellow beside him now was just an inch shorter than he was, and possessed not the slighted clue about the real world.

The rest of the Chaotix stood outside, enjoying the sunshine.

"Ho! Ready to go?" Vector tossed blue and yellow hover boards on the ground.

"What's that!?" Tails widened his eyes as the floating yellow plank touched his foot. He jumped back a little.

"That's a fast way of traveling." Charmy buzzed forward with his own version of the contraption. "It's called an Extreme Gear. You step on it, and it flies."

"Want to see how it works?" Sonic asked him.

After a minute, Tails nodded.

Sonic picked up the Extreme Gear and flicked a switch on the side. He lowered it to the ground, but it stopped and hovered about eight inches in the air. He stepped onto the hovering board and leaned forward a little. The board moved, gaining speed until Sonic leaned back and gained altitude. He sailed in a circle above their heads, slowly (which was very difficult considering how optimized for extreme speed and agility this specific board was). All the while, being followed by curious blue eyes. As soon as Sonic brought the board to a complete stop, it sank back to ankle level. "See?"

"Yes…" he said softly.

"They really go much faster than that," Vector explained. "You have to go very fast on them to keep them in the air, unless you _really_ know what you're doing."

"Ah, I understand." Tails pointed at Sonic. "That means that you are very good at flying."

_How ironic._ "Yes, I am very good at flying, on these things." Sonic kicked on yellow board with his toe. "Want to try it out?"

Tails stepped on the board. It wobbled under his foot and shot away in the distance.

Espio sighed. "I'll go get it."

"Let's try that again, shall we?" Sonic gently, patiently asked the fox.

"I don't want to do this anymore. It's hard." Tails frowned and shook his head.

"It's much easier if you get it going before you try to get on. Watch." Vector tossed his board forward on the ground, chased after it, and jumped on. He zoomed around for a while.

Espio handed Tails the board. "Here, try again."

"I'll help you," Sonic offered.

"You do it." Tails pushed the yellow board in Sonic's hands.

"I can throw it on the ground, but you have to be the one who jumps on it." Sonic simultaneously tossed both boards ahead of them in such a way that they ran parallel. He grabbed Tails's hand and they ran after the boards, jumping onto them and suddenly they were both zooming around in Vector's circle.

Tails wobbled a bit, ending up spreading arms and tails and depending on Sonic's arm for support (which was not a good thing for either of them if you think about it). However, he relaxed a bit, letting go of Sonic's hand. "Wheee…" he smiled at Sonic.

Sonic passed him a thumbs up. "Looking good, dude!"

Espio and Charmy joined them.

"Shall we get going?" Espio took the lead. "I'll be wind breaker first."

"Careful now," Sonic helped guide Tails into the place just behind Espio's right, just ahead of himself. "We're making a V."

"What?" Tails glanced over his shoulder. "Are we writing messages in the sky for people below to read?"

"No, it's just easier to fly long distance in a V like formation."

* * *

A long stillness fell over the friends as they cleared the military grounds. The Chaotix had previously agreed how to act and speak for when Sonic came out with the center of everyone's train of thought, but that did not include random bits of small talk. Anything they were to say was well, to vaguely answer or explain Tails's questions. Absolutely nothing about the past, as if any of them wanted to think of that. Especially not anything Tails used to be able to do, or used to do with Sonic. No one was to mention Eggman, or his downfall from world threatening evil genius to bug under a rock.

"So, you're finally giving us the heave ho, aren't you Snails?"

It was Sonic's turn to look over his shoulder. _Now's not the time nor the place for this Jet!_ He came forward again and whispered into Tails's ear, "I'll be right back. Just keeping following the purple guy, ok?"

"Don't go!" Tails grabbed his arm, which resulted in him losing balance, which resulted in them both crashing in a field just outside the fence.

Jet bubbled with laughter. The rest of the Chaotix swung back around and landed nearby. Sonic glared at Tails. "Would you _please, please, please_ do as I say for the time being?"

Tails curled up similarly to how he had in the cell. "I'm sorry."

Jet came sauntering up to them just as the Chaotix approached from behind. Jet held his hand down to Sonic. "Let's talk, friend to friend."

Sonic stood up on his own and followed Jet further out into the tall grasses. "What do _you_ want?"

"To come with you." Jet grinned cockily. "We're going rogue."

"Again?" Sonic raised his eyebrows. "What else is new?"

"Captain Pops will be out of a job."

"Well I kind of figured that!" Sonic crossed his arms. "Don't waste my time, Jet! I've got to get Tails to Cali in two days or less! Otherwise the hospital isn't going to guarantee that special room for him. Come on, there's got to be something else you're not telling me."

"Patience Snails!" Jet shook his head in an tremendously irritating way. "It's like something has you on edge."

Sonic laughed. "That's the first intelligent thing you've said to me all day! On edge! Ha! There is no comparison between me and you. I'm not even going to try."

"Try what?" Jet looked at him.

Sonic crossed his arms and kept his mouth shut.

"You're no fun." Jet shrugged. "The…"

"The other Babylon Rogues are coming with you." Sonic grunted. "Spill it Jet! Surely, _surely_ you didn't come all the way after us to _discuss gossip_!"

Jet showed him the Chaos Emerald.

Sonic swiped it from him. "You…"

"I know." Jet grinned and put a foot on his board. "And now the military is going to be on your tail."

He threw the Emerald in Jet's face. "I DON'T WANT YOUR FILTHY CHAOS EMERALD! JUST! JUST GO BACK TO THE BIRD HOUSE YOU CAME FROM IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

Jet caught the Emerald. "Are you sure?"

"You know what? On second thought, give that back." Sonic held out his hand.

Jet gave him the Chaos Emerald.

Sonic held it up. "Chaos, control."

"NOOO!"

The Emerald vanished from his uplifted hand.

All Jet could do was stare back. "You… you…!"

"Me me what Jet? I'm dumber than you for getting rid of the Chaos Emerald? Or did I just play it smart by making you look dumber than you are?" Sonic smirked. "Now those guys are on your backs, and I had nothing to do with it."

Jet growled. "You won't get away with that!" He jumped on his Extreme Gear and flew back to base.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Sonic returned to the Chaotix. "I wonder what those military hot heads could possibly want with the Chaos Emeralds."

He was get his answer the next day.

* * *

I found it! I found it! I found it! I found it!

Hush up, would you!? What did you find?

The last one!

The last what… Wait, you don't mean…

Yep!

Well come on!

Where are we going?

You'll find out when we get there.

What are we going to do with this?

Put it with the others, and watch the fireworks.


	18. Chapter 17 Fireflies

Fireflies

_They're not coming…_

The words echoed in Sonic's mind and he wondered how all of this started.

* * *

The night before, the Chaotix had been visited by fireflies. Tails basically set the pace for the rest of the crew, so they only got to the base of the foot hills that night. Espio built a camp fire and by dusk the whole area was almost swarming with twinkling lights. Charmy laughed and flew around with the little critter lightning bugs, playing with Tails. But Tails stayed on the ground, curious to the point of being fearful, but playful. He kept jumping, trying to catch the one or two just out of reach, and Sonic watched him from the log.

"Come on purple guy!" Tails shouted. "You're a lizard, and lizards turn invisible! You can sneak up on them!"

Espio rolled his eyes. "I guess I'd better indulge him."

"Well, it's either that or…" Vector lifted two fingers and surreptitiously tilted them to the pair of playing children.

Sonic grabbed Vector's arm and threw it down without a word.

As if on cue, "Purple! Come on!" Tails waved.

"I'm coming." Espio turned invisible. "Even if he can't say chameleon." Then there was the sound of him standing up and footsteps could be seen in the dirt walking away.

Charmy quickly plopped down in his place. "Whew! Chasing bugs is fun, but it really takes your breath away."

"Charmy," Vector stirred his mug of hot water.

"Yes Vector?"

"You are a bug."

Charmy giggled. "Oh yeah! I knew that!"

"And that means you take Vector's breath away." Sonic smirked.

"I got one!" Tails announced just as the fire pit chuckled. "What?"

"Yeah! You got one!" Charmy turned around a clapped.

Tails smiled. Then turned around. "Hey! Have any of you guys seen the purple guy? It's like he just disappeared!"

Vector snorted and stood up. "I'll find him for you."

Charmy smiled as Vector got up and left in a vain pursuit of hide and seek. "They're never going to find him!" He scooted up next to Sonic.

"Yes?" Sonic turned his head a bit down to see Charmy. "Did you have a question?"

"How did you know?"

"Because that's the look I saw on your face after I told you not to tell anyone about my real name." Sonic stared into the fire. "And I suppose you're going to ask me about just that, aren't you?"

"Why didn't you change it?"

"I couldn't. I wanted to. I'd been planning to change it since I learned I could run faster than anyone else alive." Sonic shrugged. "And then the M. You know the story. But after we all went our separate ways, I got to thinking that if I was ever to find anyone again, the M couldn't find me."

"What did you do?"

"Well, I made like Espio does naturally and blended into whatever town I happened to be in that month."

"You _weren't_ going by 'Sonic'?"

Sonic shook his head.

"Then, what?"

"It changed, no pattern, unless you call common names a pattern. I wanted people to forget me, so that if any of them turned out to be or come in contact with an M, they couldn't tell them anything."

"I guess it'd be safer for the people you met, if you did it that way."

Sonic nodded.

"So, who were you looking for?"

"Anyone. You, Mighty, Big…" Sonic glanced over his shoulder. "Tails, I guess."

"Not Amy?" Charmy asked.

"Amy?" Sonic sighed. "Huh. I don't think I've thought about her for a couple of years. She's the one who told me she didn't want to be found. And I haven't heard anything worthwhile about her since she ran off into the woods without looking back."

"I don't think anyone has heard from her." Charmy joined Sonic in staring at the glowing embers of the fire.

"Not surprising. If Amy's managed to keep silent this long, then I don't think anyone can find her."

"What if the M got her?"

Sonic shook his head. "I don't think so." He sat up. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen an M impersonate her. Ever."

"EEEAAAHHH! HA HA HA HA!" Tails screamed and laughed as Espio suddenly appearedand grabbed him from behind, lifting him up of the ground a bit.

"I got you!" Espio tossed Tails in the air and caught him.

"Look guys! I'm flying!" he shouted.

"Oh yeah, sure," Vector carelessly said in a sarcastic manner.

"Well would you look at that!" Sonic gave Vector a look, then smiled at Tails. "You can almost reach for the stars now!"

Espio finally caught Tails one last time and set him on the ground. "Careful!" he reached out to steady him when the fox lost balance.

Tails closed his eyes and yawned. "I'm tired."

"The sleeping bags are right over there!" Charmy pointed to a pile of gear the rest of them had kept in hammerspace for the day.

Tails waddled over to it, then started picking up first one, then another sleeping bag. "They don't have my favorite color!"

"What's your favorite color?" Sonic asked hopefully.

"It's not gray, I can tell you that!"

"They're all the same really. Except for size." Vector suddenly frowned. "Hey listen. Whatever you do, don't take the biggest one!"

Everyone shared in a good hardy laugh. Then when Tails was settled in, they all exchanged the pained look that one only sees if someone they know has been reduced to the mentality of a little kid. A very little kid.

* * *

"Wow… What a cool sunrise."

Sonic opened his eyes and turned to see Tails sitting on top of his sleeping bag. "Sure is a nice one."

Tails looked over his shoulder and smiled. For a moment, Sonic was very temped to tell him everything, but he'd agreed not to. Tails turned back to the sunrise.

Sonic yawned and crawled out of his sleeping bag. He looked to the west and softly gasped. "Everyone up! Now!" He put his hands on Charmy's side and rolled him back and forth until he woke up. Then He moved to Espio.

Tails shrugged and ran over to go roll Vector awake.

"Would it kill you to let us sleep in on our first day of freedom in weeks?" Charmy rubbed his eyes.

Sonic came back to him and pointed his chin to the western sky.

"Oh great!" Charmy jumped to his feet. "Everybody run! The world's finally come to an end!"

Vector pushed Tails away. "The little runt's over reacting again!"

Espio pulled Vector's other hand away from his face. "Open your eyes and look, Vector! It's the Death Egg!"

"What egg?" Tails squinted at the ship hovering over the horizon. "No, no, no. That's the moon!"

"Dude," Sonic put his hands on Tails's shoulders. "Trust me, that's not the moon."

Tails shook his head. "You must be crazy."

"I-!" Sonic bit his lower lip. _You're the one who told me about the moon in the first place!_ "Just, come on!"

Everyone jumped on their Extreme Gear and took off west, straight for the Death Egg. As soon as they reached the bottom of the mountains, Sonic grabbed Tails and tossed him into a small hidden cave. "Stay here! Ok?"

"But why are you guys so panicked up about the moon?" Tails came back out.

"Don't worry about that! Just stay here until I come back and get you." Sonic thought of an idea. "It's a game. See how long you can stay hidden and not make any noise."

"A game?" Tails's face brightened. "I love games!"

"Cool. Ready?"

He nodded eagerly.

"Go!" Sonic waved and backed up to zoom up the mountain. The rest of the Chaotix had a good head start, but Sonic caught up to them just as they came within firing distance. He knew, because the Death Egg started firing lasers at them.

"What are they doing?" Espio easily slid between the bright red beams of light.

"How'd they get a whole Death Egg over night!?" Vector demanded, tilting slightly as another beam of danger angled toward him.

"They didn't." Sonic ducked as a laser sliced over his head. "They've been building it for several weeks. Not in any time to be helpful, but I do recall having seen them building something when I came here to rescue Tails!"

"Well, thanks for telling us!" Charmy glanced at Sonic, almost in anger. Then he disappeared.

"CHARMY!" Sonic tilted his board up but looked down as Charmy and his board shrank from sight.

"SONIC!" Espio rammed into Sonic, throwing them both out of the way of a plasma blast. "Keep your eyes on the sky, or you'll get us all killed!"

"What about…"

"Don't worry about him! He's got a perfectly good pair of wings! Remember?" Vector leaned forward, quickly closing on the Death Egg's hull.

Sonic blinked to clear his head. "Yeah! Right! He'll be ok!" _Another laps like that and I'm dead!_

Plasma and laser canons blasted at them until the three literally body slammed their way through the bulkhead. Sonic shot through first, spinning through while his board sliced into the wall as though a knife through water. Espio and Vector followed him in through the weak spot.

"So what's the plan?" Vector rubbed his eyes.

"Don't let anyone touch you!" Sonic pulled him away from the wall as it reached out towards them. "And find the Chaos Emeralds! I guess they'd be in the main reactor room. Keep moving!"

Espio turned invisible. "I'll go left."

"I'm going right!" Vector picked up his board and charged down a hall.

"And that leaves me with," Sonic spun through the wall ahead. He landed in an empty storage room, spun through the door, and bolted down the hall now laid out before him. The silver goo never touched him. He followed his feeling, mentally reaching out to the stolen Chaos Emeralds and feeling where they were.

Then Sonic found them. They were arranged in a circle around the core of the main reactor, just as he thought they'd be. He sprinted for the prize.

_SMACK!_ Sonic bounced backwards off a force field. He quickly picked himself off the dangerous floor, looking for a way into the chamber.

"You didn't think we'd be _that_ stupid, did you?" Eggman's voice.

Sonic stopped pacing. "Not really. I was wondering how you managed to create a stable force field generator, though."

It grabbed his arm.

Sonic spun around and punched it in the face, knocking it back on the floor. "Don't touch me!"

Eggman M reformed in a standing position. "Sonic, be reasonable."

"Aliens, be sociable! Stop killing us! What did we do to you?"

Before Sonic could stop it, the M's arm extended into Sonic's coat pocket and retrieved the likeness of a thumb sized pill. "This." It smashed the capsule into Sonic's face. "We _are_ a sociable people. We were only explorers. We sent ambassadors to your stinking biosphere and you killed them. You smashed us apart, ripping parents from children. You hunted us down, persecuting us as foreigners on a foreign world. You manufacture ways to destroy us. _We_ are merely defending ourselves."

Sonic stared it in the eyes. "Your twisted sense of history makes me sick. The only reason ANY of those things happened was because YOU started killing harmless civilians by the millions! Now correct me if I'm wrong, but if we _hadn't_ defended them…"

"Defense?" It's face hardened, jaw firm, forehead wrinkled in anger, and it took off its glasses. "Since when does terrorism constitute defense?"

"You know, I could say the exact same thing about you." Sonic glared back. "But I don't have time for this!" He turned around.

Another M rose up from the floor in front of him.

"Get out of my way!" Sonic smacked it aside, at the same time thinking that mental command that normally teleports nearby Chaos Emeralds to his hands. It didn't work. The Chaos Emeralds flashed, the light reflecting against the force field. Sonic grumbled, then spun through the top and bottom ends of the cylindrical force field. As soon as it fizzled out, Sonic grabbed all the Chaos Emeralds.

"NOOO!" The Eggman M wrapped its arms around Sonic's head and pulled him away. Do you know what you've done?

I know exactly what I did! Sonic wrestled out of the M's grip as fast as he could, hoping the acid hadn't burned his skin too badly. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH ME!"

The M Eggman shrieked and appeared to burn away. As did the M behind Sonic. Sonic looked up and saw that the roof was melting. He stepped away as a giant drop of shiny goo dripped to the floor. Another drip was forming above him, so Sonic moved out of the way again. This one he watched as it fell through an open space in the deck. It was then he noticed what he was standing on. Nothing. On top of that, his boots and jacket coat seemed to be burning with a golden halo. Sonic laughed to himself and flew through the rest of the ship until every single last M was falling into the depths of the Great Basin.

Then he remembered Vector and Espio.


	19. Chapter 18 The Play Room

The Play Room

Charmy's eyes cracked open "S… Sonic?"

"Shhh…" Sonic whispered, focusing on that gash across the kid's head and willing it to be healed.

"You got the Chaos Emeralds!" He smiled. "And you turned into Super Sonic. Cool."

"Yeah, cool." Sonic waved his hand over the injury as he felt the last of his energy fade. "You took a nasty fall."

"I know." Charmy sighed. "I was so scared, I forgot to fly." He blinked. "Oh look, you're blue again."

"We'll have to be sure and pass through a zone on our way to Cali. Otherwise I'm out of rings." Sonic stood up. "Can you sit up?"

Charmy put his hands on the rocks and pulled himself to a sitting position. Slowly he stood up. "Say, where are Vector and Espio?"

Sonic looked around for Charmy's Extreme Gear. He grabbed it.

"Sonic?"

"They're not coming…"

"Why not?" Charmy walked forward and took his board. "What happened to them?"

"I don't know. As soon as I grabbed the Chaos Emeralds, the whole Death Egg started melting around me."

Charmy gazed into the colossal sized mirror lake.

"Charmy… It's not safe here." Sonic picked him up.

He wrapped his arms around him. "So... I guess they're gone now."

"I miss them too." Sonic took Charmy up to the top of the mountain. "Come on, let's go get Tails."

* * *

They got the Chaos Emeralds.

… That's bad.

Very bad. … So, what do we do now?

Plan B.

Plan B?

B as in bioconsumer.

Say, _what_?

A little something I've been working on in my spare time. Perceive this. It noshes on the biosphere's flora and foliage continuously, and is adaptive to be able to counteract contagions and resistance within two generations, depending on the opposition. Since the foliage of this biosphere regenerates the atmosphere, and is also the main source of nourishment for the native animal life, this solution will be attacking them on two simultaneous fronts, depleting the chemical balance of the air _and_ the sustenance of these terrorist monsters.

In much shorter terms, you've been working on a plan B, and plan B starves and chokes out this biosphere?

Well, you don't have to slam my ideas just because they're better than yours.

Who said anything about slamming? Come, let's go tell the head about your idea. I don't think Doctor Eggman could have done better.

Why thank you. Hey wait a minute! You blame me of using the genius of a _human's_ pitiful mind? As high as he was above human standards, he was still no match for us!

Actually, I was going to, but you've just earned my respect.

… That means that you've never respected me before.

Because your ideas have always been silly, and your comebacks lame. You just lost it again.

Wha?

Stop projecting your thoughts before I eject you from the main group! We're almost there.

* * *

"I never knew he was such an artist." Sonic put the top pencil drawing at the bottom of the stack in his hands and examined the next one.

Tails had been at the hospital for a couple of weeks now. Right as Charmy and Sonic were leaving him in his room, he turned around and said, "I know your name!" He pointed to Charmy.

"Me? Really?" Charmy glanced to Sonic.

"Yeah, its… its Chonix, or something." Tails shook his head and shrugged. "Something like that."

"That's fine, dear." Nurse Troy shoed them out of the room. He turned back to Tails. "Now, just ask for anything, and I'll get if for you."

"Can I have some… some…" Tails rubbed his ears. "Pencils! I want to draw them a picture of something I saw once. I think they'd like it."

"Alright." Nurse Troy smiled.

Next thing you know, two weeks later Tails is the best scribble artist in the entire ward. Now, as Sonic flipped through his pictures, he wondered where his buddy had come up with all of this. "He keeps saying that these are things he's seen, but I've never even heard of anything that looks like this." He held up a picture somewhat resembling a tree (or a fork?), but it looked as though it was supposed to be some kind of hair do.

Troy smiled. "It must be from an alien culture that the M once visited."

"It looks like most of the pictures carry along the same lines." Sonic stopped at one particular picture. "Well now."

"What did you find?" Troy stood up and looked over Sonic's shoulder. "A Chaos Emerald?"

"Maybe. That is, if there _were_ an orange Chaos Emerald. Hmmm…" _Dare I hope?_ "Does this mean that I'll be able to go see him soon?"

Nurse Troy returned to his chair. "No. Once again, you can't see him while he's still going through this stage. I think it would be best if we let his own memories surface and dominate the others in a more stable fashion before he sees you again."

"How do we get proof that that's happening?"

He held up the hard sketch of a Chaos Emerald(?). "When we start seeing more of these and less of the others. But here's one good piece of information, this morning, Tails asked for a computer, and he drew a picture of it." Troy pulled a paper off his desk and passed it to Sonic.

Sonic raised his eyebrows. "This is definitely that computer hand held I gave him for his birthday."

Nurse Troy half smiled. "We gave him something similar for now, a regular computer with plenty of brains."

Sonic smiled and shook his head. "Here, this belongs to him anyway." He pulled out of hammerspace the box of a computer he'd carried for so many years, and handed it to the nurse.

Sonic followed the signs outside. _I've been putting it off long enough. I think it's time to return the Wait what do we have here?_

Charmy stood outside, cross arms, blocking Sonic's way. Sort of. "Hi Sonic."

"Hey Charmy. Can I help you?"

"Yeah." He cocked his head. "Tell me exactly what happened to my friends."

Sonic looked around. _I was hoping to avoid this topic._ He spotted a secluded bench and nodded towards it.

They both sat on the bench.

Sonic folded his hands, leaning forward. "I don't know where to start."

"Start right after that beam hit my board."

"_CHARMY!"_

"_SONIC!"_

"_He can take care of himself. He's got two perfectly good wings."_

_Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. It's not working._ Sonic stood up and walked away.

"Sonic!" Charmy's word felt like a choke chain around Sonic's throat. "What really happened to them!?" His voice filled with tears. "All you said was that you couldn't find them."

"I…" _How?_ "I…" Sonic took another deep breath. "I can't."

"Can't what?"

"I just can't! I don't want to talk about this!" Sonic put his hands over his ears.

"Why not!?" Charmy shouted at him.

Sonic turned around. "Because… because I killed them."

Charmy stood up from the bench.

"Just after you got your free sky diving lesson, we got inside and each of us picked a hall. I found the Chaos Emeralds first, but some stinking M got in my way. I don't know. I guess I wasn't thinking! Maybe… I don't even know what went on in there, but as soon as the Chaos Emeralds were out of that force field, everything started melting around me. And it just felt so good to watch those shiny blobs burn at my touch, melt when I got close. I wasn't thinking. I forgot about Vector and Espio. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Charmy flew above Sonic and pushed him on the pavement. "SORRY DOESN'T CUT IT ANYMORE! WHAT'S BECOME OF US!? WE WERE THE GOOD GUYS! WE WERE UNBEATABLE! YOU! YOU WERE THE WORLD'S GREATEST HERO! SONIC! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO RESCUE EVERYONE! DEFEAT THE BAD GUYS! SAVE THE WORLD!"

"Charmy! What do you want from me?!" Sonic got off the ground, holding his arms out in resignation.

He pointed to Sonic through literal fountains of tears. "What you used to do may have worked four years ago, but what about today? Huh? People are dead, the M are _still_ out there, and the world is falling apart!"

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!?" Sonic instantly regretted shouting.

Charmy's face broke. "Where's our hero, Sonic? Who's going to save the day today? You?!"

Sonic allowed that to hang in the air for a bit before responding. "_No one_ cares more than I do."

"Then… why?" Charmy's face melted.

"That, I have no answer for."

Charmy huffed. "That's what I thought." He turned his back and took out his repaired Extreme Gear.

"Where are you going?" Sonic started running after him. "You can't go outside of town, they'll kill you!"

"So?" Charmy shrugged. "Maybe I can actually do some good and take a few out with me."

"Charmy, why are you doing this?"

He bitterly flared at Sonic. "Ask the Chaotix."

"At least let me come with you! You can't go out there alone!"

"You can't come with me either!" Charmy crossed in front of Sonic, forcing him to stop. "Go, Sonic! Go back to TAILS!" He glared one last time. "_He_ still needs you."

Sonic glared back. "Ok, I will." He spun on his toe and ran back to the hospital. "I'll just have to give the Chaos Emeralds to someone here."

* * *

_Sonic opened his eyes. He was on the bottom of the Great Basin, in the muck of the lake of M. Around his feet he counted three skeletons. One big, one about his size, one a little smaller._

_Run._

_Huh?_

_Run, Sonic. Run. Run awayyyyyyy…_

_Who are you? How can I hear you in my head? I'm not speaking, because if I opened my mouth, I'd drown._

_We are the M._

* * *

Sonic sat up and threw the bed sheets around the room. _Calm down! It was only a dream!_ He was wet. Sweat. _Just a dumb dream,_ he told himself.

_Then why does it haunt me so?_

And then the thought hit him. "They're not coming… Never again. Not coming back. I, I just killed three people today. My friends. And they'll never come back again."

_But Charmy killed himself._

Sonic got up and sat in the window seat of the hotel room's window. _But I could have stopped him._

_Really? He would have just gone and done it anyway._

_He needed help. I could have gotten him to a counselor._

_I did my best._

_I could have done better._

_Maybe, but would the end result have been any different? He would have just run away in the dark of night instead to coming to you with it first. At least this way I know what happened to him._

_I'd rather __have __not known._

_There is no point in debating what could have been and what couldn't be now, after the fact. Today, I killed three of my best friends. Fact, they are dead. There is no going back, no bringing them back. Nothing you can do will ever change that. They are gone. The end. What now?_

_What do I do now?_

_Tails needs me._

_I need to deliver the Chaos Emeralds to someone who can use them to defeat the M._

_Good idea. I think that's what I'll do first thing in the morning._ Sonic nodded to the slight reflection in the window.

* * *

"Just get it out of here," Sonic told the pup wolf in uniform. "If that box does not safely arrive where something useful is being built, then it could very well mean the lives of every single last living thing on Mobius. Understand?"

He couldn't have been more than seventeen years old. "Uh, what's in it?"

"Something that could either save the world, or destroy it." Sonic patted the little kid on the shoulder. "You'll get the job done."

After he left the poor lone wolf to his defenses, Sonic caught a ride on the bus back to town. He made his way back to the hospital.

Troy was waiting for him at the front door. "Good news! He had a break through this morning! He knows his name!"

"Really?" Sonic grinned, he and the nurse grabbing each other's shoulders. "What else?"

"He wants to see you."

"Well let's not keep the old guy waiting!" Sonic grabbed Troy's arm and raced to the psychology ward, excited to meet the friend he'd lost so long ago.


	20. Chapter 19 Sickness

Sickness

Sonic heard a call with Dr. Troy's name in the middle of it as he cautiously entered Tails's room. It was nothing. Happened all the time. After all, Tails wasn't the doctor's only patient, nor was Tails the only patient in the ward.

"Yeah! You're here!" Tails jumped up from the mess of computer circuit boards on the floor, running to hug Sonic before the door closed.

Sonic laughed and hugged back. "Super glad to be here, Dude!"

"Come see what I made!" He grabbed Sonic's arm and pulled him over to the pile. Tails picked up his creation. "Look!"

Sonic took it and looked at it, wondering what it was meant to be. It was part of a broken circuit board, with plenty of resisters, transformers, and computer chips still attached. "Cool! What does this one do?"

Tails grinned. Childishly. "It lights up."

Sonic turned it over. There were a number of haphazard lights on the back, obviously pried from the now empty shell of a computer. "You did this?"

"Uh hum! Isn't it neat?"

"Is that _all_ it does? Light up?" Suddenly he hopped he hadn't sounded too sarcastic.

"Um, yeah." Tails smiled at the floor.

"Interesting." Sonic gave it back to him. He briefly scanned the floor and shelves. As expected, Tails's collection of hand drawn pencil scribbles had grown. Then Sonic's eyes landed on a small gray box on the counter, the one with a thin layer of dust on it. "What's this?" walking over to it, even though he recognized it as the super computer.

"Shhh…" Tails put his finger over his puckered mouth.

Sonic lowered his voice. "Ok."

"I don't know." Tails smiled. "But it's sleeping right now, and it makes a lot of noise when you wake it up."

"How do you wake it up?"

"Buy opening it, or talking too loud near it."

_He must have had a little bit of time alone with it then, before…_ Sonic thought of the picture he'd seen. "I thought this was one of the things you asked for."

"It is."

"Then why did you ask for it if you don't use it?"

Tails gave him a 'duh' look. "Does _everything_ have to have a use? I thought it would look nice in here, and it does. Don't you think?"

"Tails, I think you're missing the point." Sonic swiped a streak of dust off the top. "Don't you know what this really is?"

"Of course I do! It's a cube! A rather nice looking one at that! And by the way, why are you making fun of me?"

Sonic paused. "When did I…"

"_Tails_?" He grabbed a tail with either hand.

"Oh, well then… What would you like me to call you?" Sonic glanced at the cube again.

"Call me by my name. Miles. Not too hard to remember, I hope."

"No, not at all." Sonic almost sighed to himself. _And to think I had you back._

"Hey, don't feel bad, Sonic." Miles put a hand on Sonic's shoulder. "It happens all the time."

"No, it's not you. I was just thinking of someone." _The person you used to be._

"Ah yes, people." Miles smiled. "Hey, I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

"Anything."

"They keep telling me I had a life with a lot of friends, and that meeting one would bring a lot of what's still blurry back to the front, if you know what I mean."

"T… Miles, what are you getting at?"

"I was wondering if you knew any of my old friends."

Sonic's mouth went dry. His throat swelled until he thought he'd die right there in the hospital. Any thread of wishing for the old Tails to come back had just been extinguished, crushed, suffocated, destroyed out of existence. Tails would never be his again. His best friend had not been killed in a physical way, but they had destroyed who he was and all their friendship meant. Sonic was feeling like he'd just had his stuffings ripped out from his throat. This couldn't be! This was truly worse than killing him! Why? Why were the M so cruel to him? What could they have possibly gained from doing this to Tails?

He hopped none of this was showing on his face.

"Hello? Sonic?" Miles waved his hand in front of Sonic's face.

"I'm ok." Sonic blinked. "I was just trying to think of her name. As a matter of fact, I do know an old friend of yours."

"Really?" His face lit up. "Who? What's his name?"

"Cream. Do you remember her?"

Miles shook his head. "What's she like?"

"She's a couple years younger than you, but you two were really good friends. Neighbors, in fact. Let's see, I think she's about ten now? Eleven? When the two of you were young, she used to always host tea parties that you'd sometimes attend. And she has a pet chao that you were quite fond of."

Miles smiled. "She sounds nice. How soon can we get together?"

"I'm not sure." Sonic tried to think back, to when Vanilla had told him where she and her daughter were moving to. "I'll have to find her first, then see if she wants to come."

Miles clapped his hands. "Oh I can't wait!"

Sonic quickly glanced at his watch. "Let's see, there's a bus leaving here in half an hour, so if I hurry she can be here inside a week. Sound good?"

"Sounds great!" Miles pulled Sonic back to the door and knocked. "Hurry! Hurry!"

Sonic waited for Troy to open the door from the outside. "I will, I will."

The door opened and Miles pushed him out. "See you in a week!"

Sonic closed the door behind him, sinking to the floor.

"Sonic, we need to talk."

"He doesn't know me."

Troy sat down beside him. "Sometimes these things…"

"Just take time?" Sonic huffed. "Doc, he totally disregarded our previous friendship as though it never existed. You have to understand, I almost literally ran him over when we met. I picked him out from a gutter of an orphanage, and we have been together every single day since then, I don't know how many years ago. And then…"

"The M." Troy let out a long slow breath. "I knew there was a possibility of this."

"Of what?"

"From what we can tell, the M filled his brain with junk, and then kept pushing more and more in there. Useless memories mostly. And all that information just kept pushing more distant and true memories further and further back, until they were just gone. I can't begin to guess what kind of world he was living in for those three and a half years, but it wasn't one that you were ever truly in. Probably most if not all of his memories of you were erased, or at least shoved to the very back of his mind. Distant. When he thinks of you now, he probably is thinking of the one who pulled him out of that M torture chamber. Not the brother like friend he once had in you."

Sonic sat in silence for a while. "And there's no way to bring him back, now that he's seen me since then. After all, I was the one who brought him here."

Troy nodded. "He's never going to be the Tails you knew again."

"But," Sonic stood up. "He can still have that old friendship with Cream."

"Who?"

"An old friend of ours. Best known as Cream or Cream the Rabbit. Flew with her long ears, was a great healer. She was the one with the chao."

"Ah." Troy nodded, looking thoughtful. "I came back in just as you were mentioning her. I guess it's worth a try. Go ahead, find Cream and see if she wants to come. We could use her help."

"What's wrong?" Sonic asked, noticing how distracted Troy was.

He sighed. "According to a recent test, something is wrong with Tails's brain and we don't know what. Of course we're working on it, but it doesn't look good. If he doesn't get real help or a miracle in less than a month, Our friend Tails will leave us in little more than two."

Sonic checked his watch again. "I'd better not wait for the bus then."

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHH! MAMA! MAMA! IT'S SONIC!"

Vanilla lifted the tent flap, laughing. "Cream dear, the entire peninsula heard you!"

"Ouch." Sonic rubbed his right ear, the side he'd been attacked from. "Since when did you develop such a set of lungs?! I might have gone deaf in that ear!"

Cream giggled. "It's been four whole years, Sonic."

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese, same as ever, sat himself on Sonic's head. "Chao. Chao! Chao."

"Four long years," Sonic said to himself.

"However long it's been," Vanilla pulled Sonic into a hug. "It's very good to see you Sonic. Welcome to our little corner of the world. Come inside, I was just putting supper on the table." She led them all into the tent.

Once inside, Sonic put his hand on Cream's head, then brought it back to where it was almost at his shoulder. "You've been growing, Cream."

"Chao chao!" Cheese nodded from above.

Cream smiled. "You did too."

"So," Sonic sat at the empty place in the small table, where Vanilla was making another place setting. "You guys have lived in a tent this whole time?"

"Yes, but we weren't always here." Vanilla started serving a piping hot stew. "The diseases in every location are different. What we do is help what doctors are left in town to find a cure for all the major sicknesses. Then we move on."

"What kinds of diseases? Thanks." Sonic set a piece of cornbread on the side of his plate.

"Mosquitoes mostly." Cream softly blew on her stew while her mother gave her some cornbread. "You see, when the moon was gone… Wait, let me start over. You know how we have high tides and low tides? I mean, used to? The high tide was just extra water that the moon was pulling around. And then when the moon was on the other side of Mobius, there was more extra water, the other high tide. When the moon got destroyed, all that extra water leveled out. All the beaches everywhere were gone, and a lot of the low lands too." She pinched off a bit of cornbread and put it in her mouth.

"Chao chao." Cheese jumped to his spot next to Cream when Vanilla sat down.

"This peninsula we're on?" Vanilla pointed her spoon at the walls, "It used to be twice as long as it is now, and three times as wide. All we're sitting on now is what used to be a small string of hills."

"And it's the mosquitoes who are living better than ever with so much more stagnant water laying around." Cream dipped her cornbread in the stew and licked it.

Vanilla coughed. "Cream, how many times have I told you not to do that? It's disgusting."

"Only for drinks, Mama, I thought. Except for milk and cookies." Cream put her cornbread completely in the stew and wiped her fingers on a napkin.

Vanilla shook her head, smiling. "Please don't dip your cornbread again, unless you're going to put it in your bowel and leave it there."

"Yes Mama." Cream picked up her spoon for the first time.

"Chao chao chao!" Cheese held up his empty plate.

"Sonic, would you pass this to Cheese?" Vanilla handed him another cornbread.

"Certainly." Sonic set it on the uplifted plate.

"Chao chao." Cheese smiled at Sonic.

"You're welcome." Sonic patted him on the head.

"So, now that you've heard what we've been doing," Vanilla smiled to Sonic. "Where have you been keeping yourself, Sonic?"

"Oh, here and there."

Cream giggled.

"Literally." Sonic shook his head. "Joined the military. Got kicked out. Found all the Chaos Emeralds."

"Really?" Vanilla asked.

"Yeah, but I gave them to someone who'd make sure they got to somewhere useful."

"Aww." Cream frowned at her soup. "I wanted to see one."

"Well then, I'll see if I can arrange that. If possible." Sonic looked at Cream.

She smiled back.

"Anyway." Sonic thought about Tails. "I came to ask a favor."

"Of course," Vanilla nodded. "Anything."

"I'd like Cream and Cheese to come with me to a certain hospital in inland Cali."

"I'd be glad to go!" Cream bounced in her seat. "Mama, may I?"

Vanilla nodded, though still confused. "I wasn't aware there were any major epidemics in that area."

"No, the flooding wasn't as bad there because of the cliff beaches and coastal mountains, plus it's inland, so no mosquitoes at all."

"Then what's wrong?" Cream twirled her spoon between her fingers.

"Tails. He's alive."

Vanilla softly gasped. "How?"

Sonic glanced at Cream. "It's not pretty. The M didn't kill him like we'd thought, but instead they kept him alive. Doctor Troy's best guess is that they brainwashed him into thinking that he _was_ an M, replacing memories and bits of knowledge with useless M experiences. I found and rescued him a couple months ago, and since then he's made major progress."

"Tails…" Cream stirred her stew. "Wasn't he was the smart one who was always building airplanes?"

"Yes." Sonic nodded.

"What's wrong with him?" Cream asked, worried.

"Chao chao!" Cheese echoed Cream's concern.

"Apparently, the M gave him a little gift before I pulled him out of there." Sonic played with his own spoon. "Something's wrong in his brain, and if they can't do something soon, he's as good as dead."

Cream stood up from the table. "Mama, I have to go!"

"Definitely." Vanilla coughed again, this time wiping her mouth with her napkin. "Hurry dear, our friend needs you." She turned to Sonic. "I know you just got here, but how soon can you leave?"

"I'd hate to travel at night." Sonic motioned to the plastic window showing the beginnings of sunset. "The M are bad enough when you _can_ see them."

"Aww," Cream frowned at the setting sun. "But Tails can't wait! We've got to help him as fast as we can."

"Cream, it's ok. We'll leave first thing in the morning."

"In any case, it would be best to get there as soon as possible." Vanilla began clearing dishes. "Cream, would you go check on the mosquitoes?"

"Yes Mama." She picked up hers and Cheese's dishes.

"I'll take those." Sonic took her dishes to the makeshift sink, where Vanilla was starting to fill it with some water than had been boiling during dinner. Quietly he asked, as Cream ran out the door with Cheese not far behind, "You keep mosquitoes around?"

"To find out the best cures faster." Vanilla added some cool water so she wouldn't burn her hands. "Would you clear the napkins and silverware please Sonic?"

"No problem." Sonic gathered the metallic utensils and picked up Vanilla's napkin. It had a few tiny drops of blood on it. "Vanilla, are you sick?"

She stopped putting plates into the sink. She turned around. "I'm very sick, so sick I think I'm dying. Cream doesn't know. Please don't tell her."

Sonic sadly smiled and put the napkins in the trash.

Cream came bouncing back in. "Plenty of water and still well contained." She grabbed Sonic's hand. "Come on! Let me show you the tree house we built!"


	21. Chapter 20 Innocence

Innocence

Bright and early at the crack of dawn, morning found Sonic carrying Cream carrying Cheese through the dense forests of the Great Plains. But one would never hear them, except for the wind passing by.

"Sonic, could we stop by and see our old house?" Cream asked delightedly.

"Chao chao chao!" Cheese squirmed.

"I'm sorry Cream, but all our old houses got torn down a long time ago."

"Oh."

"Chao…"

Sonic ran on for a minute without either them saying anything. Just the constant steady breeze and the chatter of happy critters in the trees.

"Do you ever wonder why sometimes you meet some people in some places, and they're all squirrels and song birds and chipmunks, with critter lizards, and rabbits? And then you go somewhere else and the people are lizards and rabbits, when the critters are birds and squirrels?"

Sonic thought about it. "You know, I don't think about that sort of thing. People are people, after all. And critters are critters. Whoa!" He skidded into a turn and started sprinting as fast as he could.

"CHAO!" Cheese screamed as the gravity suddenly changed directions for a moment.

Cream held tighter to Cheese and Sonic. "What was that Sonic?!"

"An M." Sonic frowned. "Need to see if we can find a river around here."

"Why?"

"Because if you put acid into water, it dilutes." Sonic glanced behind them.

He saw it running to catch up.

Sonic faced forwards again in time to avoid a fallen log. He hopped over it and turned suddenly again. Shortly thereafter, they heard the M shouting obscenities at the log.

"Sonic! I think he's hurt!" Cream pulled on Sonic's shoulder.

"Nonsense!" Sonic shook his head. "The M are shape shifters, nothing as trivial as a log is going to hurt one."

"Let's go back!" Cream glared at him. "Maybe if we help him, he'll tell all his friends that we don't want to hurt them."

Sonic slid to as stop. "I suppose it's worth a try." He retraced his steps until they found the M.

The M had transformed into a small monkey boy. He was sitting on the log, sobbing his eyes out and constantly wiping up the tears with his tail.

Sonic set Cream on the ground. "Can we help you?"

"I, I'm lost," the M wiped his eyes and looked up at them. "Can you help me get to the colony?"

"So, you guys really do plan on staying here on Mobius, don't you?" Sonic carelessly asked.

It cocked its head. "You're not other," it uttered a very unpronounceable and illegible concoction of syllables, "are you?"

"No, we're Mobians. I'm Cream, this is Sonic, and that is Cheese." Cream pointed to herself and traveling partners in turn. "We're here to help you."

"Chao chao." Cheese nervously nodded. He remembered what an M was, and they were _not _to be readily trusted.

It stared at the dirt again. "Cream. Cream the Rabbit. Cream and Cheese the healers?"

"Yes." Cream nodded.

The M stood up and walked up to her, sort of in between her and Sonic. Then _blink_ and it had warped into the image of Knuckles. "You are just the kids I wanted to see!"

Cream and Cheese screamed. Sonic moved to attack but the M elbowed him and punched him into a tree. Then it chased after Cream as she jumped and flew through the trees. Sonic grabbed it from behind and threw it on the ground before it had gotten very far. "You've got to do better than that, Knucklehead!"

The M growled, flash morphing into a stone golem. Sonic easily dodged its fists and flying boulders. Then the M transformed again, this time into a water nymph. It waved its bejeweled wand and Sonic found himself surrounded by a strong river. Sonic floundered in the strong current, thrashing helplessly until he came upon a tree branch, grabbed hold of it, and gave it a good tug to send himself flying to shore.

"EEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Cream's scream echoed against the nearby mountains.

"CREAM!" Sonic charged towards the voice, faster than ever before. Trees and under growth blurred and all he saw was that sweet little girl being held by the M's liquefying limbs. He body slammed the M, digging his left arm into the creature around Cream to pull her away from that monster.

He set her on the ground and was revolted by what was left of her.

Most of her face and front had been eaten away by the acid, but somehow, she was still alive enough to whisper cry, "Sonic, my mother…" then, nothing.

Sonic closed his eyes, waiting for that piercing stab of sorrow. But that never came. Instead, he stood up and faced the M in rage.

It was busy swatting a little gray egg into the bushes. "Pathetic," it mumbled. "I don't know what you Mobians see in beholding such small and weak critters as pets!"

"You know what's pathetic?" Sonic gritted his teeth, "She was only ten."

It frowned and glanced at a bush, then shrugged and looked back. "So?"

What happened next would take longer for even the fastest reader to read than to have actually been there and watch it happen. Sonic may not have completely been in control of himself, controlled by a sudden, new, and dangerously pure hate for the enemy. But every word he spoke he meant, and with each one the M received another attack from him.

"TEN! SHE WAS ONLY TEN! SHE NEVER DID ANYTHING TO YOU! NEVER IN HER LIFE HAS SHE HURT ANYONE OR ANYTHING! SHE WAS INNOCENT! SHE WANTED TO HELP YOU! DESPICABLE YOU AND ALL YOUR BUDDIES! WHY DID YOU KILL HER!? WHY DID SHE HAVE TO DIE!?"

The M waited until Sonic was finished slapping its face before answering. "Because I could." It transformed into yet another species of alien, evidently one with electricity powers, because then it hit Sonic with a bolt of lightning.

Sonic collapsed on the ground, unable to speak or move. The last thing he felt before blacking out was the terrible pain on his face, and being lifted off the ground.

* * *

When he woke up, he was on Angel Island, at a party. A birthday party. Sonic groaned. I must be dead then, and this surely isn't Heaven.

No, the yellow fox said to him.

Said? Not quite. Thought… No, not that either. Something in between. Not quite speaking and not quite thinking, but a little of both. What does one call this sensation?

Sonic looked at Tails's resemblance. Why don't you just let me die too?

The one that looked like Knuckles raised a glass. We want to learn about you. We couldn't very well do that if you were dead, which you almost were.

Don't worry, we saved you. The Cream offered him a slice of cake.

You're dead. You are all dead. Sonic shoved her away. Why have you brought me back to this?

They all looked at each other. This _is_ a happy memory of yours, isn't it?

Sonic refused to think or speak.

We wanted to know what you were like when you were happy. You were happy then, why aren't you happy now?

Why wen't you guys happy to have stayed on your _own_ planet?! Sonic shouted thought. He looked around again. Where's Amy?

Amy? Who's Amy? They all looked at each other. Think of Amy, they commanded him.

Despite himself, Amy appeared in front of Sonic. This is Amy? She looked at herself admiringly. She's pretty, you think so too.

No! Sonic turned away, because that wasn't how Amy really looked like. Her hair probably wasn't that short any more, nor was she still that young.

Oh, so Amy is more like this?

Sonic saw her again. Standing there in front of him, demanding attention. Go away. Leave me alone.

The Amy put her arms around Sonic. She had a kind, sadness stricken smile. Her hair was longer, and she was a little taller. The sparkle had not left her eyes, but there were still roses in her cheeks. I'll never leave you, she said.

Then why did you? She! Stop it! You're confusing me! Sonic put his hands over his ears.

Impulsive audio reflexes will not block us out. As your biologically inferior, yet somehow considered a genius, Doctor Eggman put it: we are touch telepathic. We are inside your head, we know all that you are, all that you were, and everything you ever planned to be.

Shut up! Sonic threw his fist at its head, causing it to melt into silver ooze.

The environment changed. Day flipped to night. Angel Island transformed into Christmas, on Christmas Eve. Sonic saw a familiar looking house with a lit window, from which happy noises came. And music. He looked in the window, but he knew what he'd see. A ring of happy children, all ages, all opening what each most wanted for the namesake of their home.

Look, see there? Standing in the corner?

Sonic looked. I don't believe it.

Standing tall and proud with arched beak and sleek black tipped red feathers, stubbornly still stuffed in his flying ace boots, gloves, and goggles.

Open it, he told the very young hedgehog.

The small boy grinned at the package and like lightning the colorful paper lay in shreddings on the floor. A couple of the other children stared, some giggled, but he was too mesmerized by the golden ring inside.

Christmas with Dune, Sonic mumbled, turning away from the window. He walked to the nearest tree and punched it as hard as he could.

The M tree reformed into a person.

Why have you brought me here?

To determine the meaning of happiness. It appears to be something you lack. If you have all these happy memories, why aren't you happy?

How can I be happy when you keep forcing me into painful memories?

All the M around him stood there silently. They looked at each other, and at the memories. What is so painful about these things?

Sonic glanced back at the little log house. All these people are dead now.

Why aren't you happy for the times you _did_ have with them?

He glared back. Because you, all of you, killed them.

I sense hate, one of them said.

An overpowering loathing for our kind.

An uncharacteristic animosity. I don't think our guest would be recognized by his friends if they were to see him now.

How could they?! You killed them all!

We? As though it was us who are the guilty party.

The scene evaporated again. This time Sonic found himself standing on top of a mountain, watching the Death Egg melt to silver slush.

You killed a lot of innocents that day, not just your friends, an M reminded him.

If they were so innocent, then why were they helping to create that weapon? Sonic asked, not watching the action.

Who said anything about a weapon? We were only trying to return to the sky so we could leave, yet you just had to come in and destroy. That's what you do best, Sonic the Hedgehog. You destroy.

Lies. Sonic crossed his arms. I saw one, _a single one_, of your kind transform into a flying alien and it flew back to space with no problems.

Rebuttal, another M commented. Always seeking to explain things in a way that best suits its own point of view. Borrowing excuses in order to be biased. Predigest.

That _single one_ was being helped by our invisible arms. We pulled them up as well as let them fly.

I refuse to listen to this. Sonic turned away, only to be faced by yet another memory.

Cream's half eaten face stood before him. We are only trying to make you see the truth.

The truth is, Sonic shouted at her, that Eggman started this whole thing and you just won't let it go!

Sonic, she reached up to his face.

Don't touch me.

I already have. We all have. Foolish child. We've known you for years.

As for the truth, we cannot leave until the lost children have been properly avenged.

You want to talk about children in need of vengeance? Sonic purposely changed the environment. Now they were standing in a school yard, filled with children of all ages playing all kinds of recess games. This is a school on Christmas Island, he told them. All these children are dead now, because you killed them. They died in their sleep, believing their word was safe again!

The M glanced around. We don't recognize such as these as children. They can move on their own, speak on their own, survive on their own.

Sonic became furious. They were too young to die! They had barely begun to live! To experience life!

Experience is gained from elders! You do not _need_ to do things yourself.

_We_ do! And they never got the chance! But they're not alone. One hundred million people died and it was the lot of you who killed them!

So what are you going to do, Mobian? Kill even more of us?

No.

Give in?

No.

Well? Which is it?

I intend to drive you out of Mobius forever.

They laughed, or rather, sent out the sensations that they were laughing, that some hilarious joke had been heard. And just how would you do that?

Sonic paused, all the while feeling them snicker. If you really knew me you'd know that no matter what, I don't give up. I will go on fighting you until every last one of you gets off this planet, and all Mobians are safe, or until the instant I myself am dead. I swear on my being that I will rid Mobius of you.

…

…

Brave words, courageous spirit, good for you. I wonder if all your dead friends would have liked to hear you say it.

They would have been saying it right along with me.

So they would have. Too bad for them, then.

Face it, Sonic the Hedgehog. You are alone. All your friends are gone. What do you think you could possibly do to get rid of us?

I can at least try, and if I do that, all their deaths would not be in vain.

And if you fail?

Then I will be dead, and it wouldn't matter anymore anyway.

More laughing.

Is it afraid of _anything_?

It would if it knew what was good for it.

Or do you mean bad for it?

For a minute, all Sonic could think about was the M laughing.

Suddenly, the ground transformed into millions of tiny red insects. They crawled all over Sonic, biting him. He swatted at them, but it did no good.

Let's see, it's not afraid of pain.

The bugs melted into water, and after a while Sonic was wondering if the M were just going to let him drown. What's the point here? he asked as he sank further and further down. I told you where I stand! You know I can't swim. Go on! I dare you! Kill me now so I won't bother you anymore!

Or death. Let's try…

The water vaporized. Then Sonic found himself standing in an empty field. Empty that is, if it weren't for all the bodies of his dead friends. It hurt, to see them like this, all over again. He turned around.

Amy was standing there. Sonic, I…

Oh, please! Not her. Sonic felt the impression of a smile from the M all around him.

So that's it, isn't? Your secret fear is being unable to protect the people you love.

I am _not_ in love with Amy!

Then watch her die.

Amy screamed, her feet melting into a pool of shiny liquid, reaching out with her arms in every direction.

NOOO! Sonic grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the pool. Are you ok?

She started laughing, as though Sonic was the center of some joke. The whole congregation of M began a cores of laughter that would have echoed back from the moon if the moon had still been intact. Sonic dropped her arm and felt stupid for rescuing an M from the M.

Then they screamed. The entirety of existence seemed to be rolling over. M aliens melted, crumbling apart, and Sonic found himself dumped in a desert somewhere. So he ran, didn't care where, just ran. Ran as fast as he could for as long as he could, until he collapsed in the sand, and just hoped the M wouldn't find him here, or if they did, he'd never wake up again.


	22. Chapter 21 Olga's Lighthouse

Olga's Lighthouse

The bed was cheap and uncomfortable. Sonic could even feel a bar going across his back. That meant he was waking up. He didn't want to wake up.

There was the noise of someone entering the room and sitting down in a squeaky chair. "Cheers," she said, and sipped loudly on something that smelled like water.

Sonic opened his eyes, trying to see.

"Ah, he lives!" She, a skunk holding a toasted green sandwich and setting a clear glass on a wooden table, stood up and walked closer. "Was beginning to wonder if I had to get you to some kind of medical facility."

"Who are you?" Sonic glanced to his right, when something creaked, but saw nothing except a wall. "Where am I?"

"Olga's Lighthouse. Who are you?"

"Why am I here?"

"Because I haven't had to get you some proper red X on white background help yet."

Sonic glared at her. "Not funny."

"Wasn't meant to be, son." She went back to her squeaky chair and flopped back, tail in front. "What's your name, kid?"

"Why should I tell you anything?"

"Don't have to. 'Twas still a free state, last I checked." She stared off into space, somewhere to her left.

Sonic rubbed his left ear. It was feeling funny. "Where am I?"

"Olga's Lighthouse, Fransco Bay, Cali." She lifted her free hand towards where she was staring. "A window over there for ya, a set of rungs if you want a panoramic view."

Sonic got up and went to the window. Outside he could see waves crashing against the rocky cliff.

"Going somewhere?" Olga asked, slouching back with a squeak.

"I…" Sonic looked to his right again. Steps leading up to a spiral staircase. He turned a little more and caught the skunk grinning at him.

"Lost? Futon's that a way." She motioned with her green sandwich to the couch bed.

"No," Sonic snapped his fingers, wondering what was wrong with his left ear.

"Ya gone deaf in your ear, son?"

"I hope not!" Sonic sat on the edge of the futon. He looked at her strange green sandwich again. "Mind if I have one of those too?"

She smiled, "galley's that a way," and pointed the opposite direction as the stairs.

* * *

It was an apartment sized dwelling. Sort of U shaped. Kitchen, only door, turn right, bedroom slash living room, stairs to the light. Bathroom under the stairs on the kitchen side of the house. And all the bread was green, salty, and tasted like seaweed. Also, he still couldn't hear anything out of his left ear.

"So what's your name, son?" Olga leaned back in her squeaky chair, one of two chairs.

"Well, most people know me by Sonic." He took another sour bite.

Olga's eyes widened. "_The_ Sonic?"

"The one, the only."

"We's all thought you were dead!"

He stared at the bitter sandwich. "I feel dead."

"Hey," she patted him on the shoulder. "'Tis ok, You're plenty safe here."

Sonic laughed. "Since when is any place on this planet safe!?"

Olga leaned back. "Since this old hag of a skunk handed a fanny full of stink to the couple dozen slime balls that were chasing you up this hill!" She chuckled to herself and slapped her right knee. "Yep. Good times, good times."

"That wasn't funny either."

Olga shrugged. "Not to you, you were sleeping. Not to them, they were the ones gettin it had! Sure was funny to me, though." She smiled off in the distance. "You wana know what's what since you been gone?"

"How long have I been gone?"

"Bout five years."

Sonic shrugged. "No biggie."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "If you say so. 'Tal started back when they said something about you finding your buddy alive and gettin the boot from boot camp. And then they said yous was goin to scoop up that little rabbit girl and get her to help cure fox kid. But nobody's heard anything since."

"That wasn't five years ago." Sonic shook his head.

Olga tilted hers. "Yeah it was."

"You're kidding."

"You're no kid." Olga took another bite of her sandwich, chewed it for a while. "Not until that blast went off and I start hearin lightning on a cloudless night and my beacon spots for me the telltale spit mirror shine of an orb of M on its way here! And I sees you in the beacon light all tuckered out in the sand and a couple dozen M right behind you and so I grabbed you and took you here. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." _Five years ago? The M held me prisoner for five stinking years!?_ "I've got to get some fresh air."

Olga shrugged. "Just so long as you tell me before trying to bring back any more of your alien friends."

"I'll be alright." Sonic went out the front door and took in his first decent view of the world around him. Desert land. Dead dry desert, for as far as the eye could see. "How did it get like this?" he whispered.

The ocean was the same, flat and shallow up against what once were towering sea cliffs, but anything green was gone. Sonic started a slow run along the "beach". For miles, everything looked the same. No trees, no plants, no critters, not any signs of life except for the lighthouse far behind. Eventually Sonic stopped. "Where did all the plants go?"

As if in answer, a tiny red beetle poked its head out of the sand. Sonic squatted and coaxed it onto his hand. He stood up and looked closely at the bug. "I know you… You're an M invention. I saw you in the M's little prison box. So, what are you?"

It sank it's pitiable jaws into Sonic's hand. It didn't hurt one bit, and he shook it off with ease. _Not so painful after all._

It seemed as though Olga's lighthouse was the only island of life left on Mobius. Although Sonic _did_ find two other lighthouses, they seemed to be abandoned. So when it was getting late, he turned around and ran back to her, and her salty seaweed bread.

"What happened to Mobius?" he asked.

Olga's smile twitched. "Was wondering when you were going to ask that. Right after we never heard of you again, Downunda starts squawking about some little red bug that's devouring anything and everything that was or once was green, that is, if it wasn't cured with chemicals like these here chairs and floor boards."

"Yeah, I think I saw one of those bugs."

"Nasty little buggers." Olga grimaced. "Anyways, those things started popping up all over the place. Everywhere, eatin everything. And then we start noticing things. Nothing's killing them, but they're killing our crops! And then the meteorologists start scaring us all because they say the atmosphere's getting thinner! And you know what? They were right! So then the big hot heads in office start blaming the M because these critters are more or less acid based, except they don't shape shift, and then they all get together and start making a plan to get rid of the M but as it turns out, this plan has been in the makings for ever since that ARK blew up! And naturally it involved the Chaos Emeralds."

"Of course."

"And so, not too long ago according to that earthquake just last week, I think they found their Chaos Emeralds."

"Why? What did they do?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Fired them at the biggest clot of M they could find I think."

Sonic grumbled. "How stupid."

"No so, as of that day I brought you in here, I haven't seen a single shine on the horizon. Well, except for the ocean." Olga blinked and shook her head. "Ah great. I forgot to tell ya about the ocean."

"What wrong with the ocean?" Sonic glanced out the window.

"Nothing. The bugs just don't do water, that's all. And you know what that means?"

Sonic raised his sandwich. "You started making all your food out of seaweed, and almost everyone has since moved under water."

Olga smiled. "Hey, you're not half bad. You nailed it on the head, except, what am _I_ doing here?"

"Running the lighthouse." Sonic took another bite.

"Hmm, that too. I'm here because I'm a skunk. Under water people don't have a lot of breathing room, and I didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable thinking I was going to make their lives stink like the rest of Mobius. Plus I hate being in the water."

Sonic snickered. "Join the club."

"Already have. Besides, I kind of like hoofing it alone. Running the light, sweeping the floor, smashing bugs for the fun of it, you know. Gotta beat the hustle and bustle of being a commoner." She leaned back in the squeaky chair after she finished her sandwich. "Even if they have more than just bread and fish to send us lighthouse keepers for dinner time. Gets a little stale after a bit, but food is food and peace is peace." She rubbed her mouth. "So what about you? Going somewhere like a fish out of water or do you get seasick and have a mind to fix up one of them close lighthouses and be somebody's nearest neighbor?"

Sonic put what was left of the bread down. "Actually, I was thinking of looking up an old friend."

"Anybody I know of?"

"Probably not. When's the next boat out of here?" Even as he said it, Sonic felt himself shudder in dread.

"Tomorrow morning, bright and early. Leaving so soon?"

"I've got to."

Olga shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"I need one last thing before I leave, though." Sonic stood up.

"Anything I can help with?"

"No." Sonic went outside again and ran north east. Occasionally he'd pass a ghost city, and decided to use them as land marks. Finally he found the town he was looking for. Eventually making his way to the hospital. Rusty locks gave no problem, and inside it was obvious that everyone had vacated in a hurry.

Sonic kept quiet in the dim halls, letting the silence speak to him. He carefully made his way to the brain ward, and lastly into the room Tails had had.

The door hung open on its hinges. Tape still stuck to the walls, where it looked as though paper drawings had once hung. The tiny husks of dead red bugs were everywhere. There was a low shelf along a wall, on which sat clumps of dust in various shapes and sizes. In the corner was one in the shape of a cube. Sonic walked over to it. He knelt in front of the cube, just as he'd done what seemed like a week ago. Sonic took a deep breath and blew.

_Stubborn dust!_ Sonic picked it up and brushed off the cube. _Things never happen in books the way they do in movies!_ He opened it up.

The hand held computer came to life. First just a few lights, then the controls lit, finally the screen.

PASSWORD:_

The little line blinked in time with Sonic's heartbeat. "Hmm." He closed the computer and put it in hammerspace.

* * *

"You sure you want ta ship out on dry land Hedgehog?" Olga walked with Sonic down to the small boat, waiting for her on the beach. "I know how much you hate water."

"_I will be fine!_ Please stop saying that. _Please_."

A seal waved to them from the boat. "Howdy Agnes!"

"Olga!" She shouted and waved back. "Whatever. Whatever you do, just don't listen to Texas. He's a real clown."

"Ah, he won't be any trouble." Sonic shook his head.

"Well," Texas put his hands at his sides. "Who do we have here?"

"Steven Blue of the sand oasis," Olga responded. "And don't you dare talk about holding my seaweed for the information."

"Stephen Blue, what can I do for you?" Texas bent and picked up a plastic sack of seaweed.

"You can give me a lift to the nearest town." Sonic cautiously stepped in the boat.

"I might be able to hitch you up." He tossed the sack at Olga.

Olga caught it with both arms. "Well where's the other one?!"

"Sorry miss," Texas grinned at her. "Can't give you two when you don't need it no more."

"Tell you I need it just as ever!"

"You been holding a guest, and requesting two sacks for the price of one." He winked at Sonic.

Olga dropped the sack on the ground and put her fists on her hips. "Texas! Don't you make me use my…!"

"All yours, Agnes." Sonic laughed and tossed the other seaweed sack to her.

"Don't expect to see another fish barrel though." Texas pointed a finger to her, teasing.

"Sometimes I wonder why I waste my time with him," she mumbled, turning around. "But now there's _two_ of them! This calls for drastic measures."

"NOOO! Don't do it Olga!" Sonic pointed to Texas with one arm, the barrel labeled fish with the other. "You, that, give," he pointed to Olga. "NOW!"

_Thud!_

"Ah! Always knew you were a bright kid, Steven!" Olga opened a sack of seaweed and tossed a strip to Sonic. She held one up herself. "Cheers to your new life."

"Cheers," as the boat began to drift away. Sonic sat down. "I'm never going to get used to this stuff."

A shrinking Olga waved from the beach. "Audios, Texas!" she called.

Texas tipped his hat. "Ma'am." He himself sat and pulled out an ore. "So, Stephen. If you didn't eat the kelp, what did you eat in that 'sand oasis'? The bugs?"

Sonic smirked. "They taste like vinegar."


	23. Chapter 22 She Calls Herself Roselyn

She Calls Herself Roselyn

Hide and seek had never been this challenging for Sonic, especially since the person he was seeking didn't want to be found, and had been successfully hiding from absolutely everyone and everything for over eight years. _If_ she was still alive.

Sonic sat alone in one of the window seats, watching not the schools of fish swimming past, but the scores of people. Someone had told him how many people lived in a city, with each city being the equivalent of a cubic mile. One thousand. And there were one hundred submarines coming and going to and from each city every day. Usually a computerized registry in the central square listed the names of everyone currently in the city. So Sonic tested it once and looked for his own name. Or code name. He was about half way through this list, looking for her name, when he realized that Amy probably had done the exact same thing he was doing. The only way Sonic was going to find her was by keeping his eyes open.

According to the computers, there were four cities completed worldwide. _How discouraging._ Also according to the computers, about seventy percent of the world population starved to death in the first year of the bugs. People really tried to combat the insects, but the bugs were as stubborn as five year old dust. Only the richest people and the fishing population survived. Not to say that there were only four thousand people left in the world, just that there were still a lot of people living on boats, and a few more running light houses.

For a while, Sonic thought being under water all the time was going to sicken him to the core, but it turned out that searching on the ships was a whole lot worse. Although the passageways and bubble structures sometimes swayed in the currents, nothing could compare to being on a boat in the middle of a storm with thirty foot waves.

And yes, Sonic had gone totally deaf in his left ear. "Unfixable. Sorry" they'd said. "We can smooth out those acid scars, if you want. Other than that, there's nothing we can do."

As for Amy, well, she could be anywhere, if not having died of starvation. So Sonic continued to watch the crowds for a pink young woman, about the age of twenty three. He had already seen several girls who fit such a description, had talked with half a dozen, and kept on looking. _Oh look, here comes another one._

She was a stylish chic, window shopping by herself. Skirt, tank top, pleated hair that almost brushed her narrow shoulders, and two inch heal sandals. Everything about her was just like every other girl in the city. Her entire look was meant to disappear.

Sonic walked up to her, and she glanced at his approach. Instead of asking any sort of question about who he was, she pointed to two different colors of purses in the window. "Which do you think?" she asked him in a chipper feminine voice, as though they were good friends.

"The red one." Sonic handed her the cube. "Because I think you'd look better in red."

She turned the cube over in her hands. "What's this?"

"Do you know what it is?" Sonic took it back. "I'm looking for someone who does."

"Why?"

"She's someone I used to know." Sonic looked into her eyes. "I last saw her about ten years ago."

"Ten years…" She smiled. "And you think I might be her?"

"Maybe, I don't know. That's why I'm asking. Are you her?"

She thoughtfully glanced down. "So, oh way too curious and determined one, how does this cube come into play?"

"Oh, that." Sonic leaned against the wall while looking at the cube. "It's just a little incripped message that my friend gave me. As I said before, she'd know what to do with it."

She took it again, looking at him thoughtfully. "What was the message?"

Sonic smiled. "Another thing, she told me not to look. But I think I've figured it out."

She raised her eyebrows.

"You see, we had this genius of a friend, and this cube belonged to him. After we thought he was gone, that's when my friend put a message in this cube for herself, in case we ever met again. But the thing is," Sonic opened the cube. "It has a password protect. And if I knew my genius of a friend, he wouldn't have made a password that anyone could easily break." He looked at her. "There was no message."

She smiled. "You're good. Really good."

"And you can turn invisible. I've been looking for you for over two months, Amy."

The smile faded. "My name is Roselyn, S…"

"Steven," Sonic finished for her. "Can I call you Rose?"

Roselyn grinned. "Sure."

"Doing anything for lunch?"

Rose shrugged. "I am now."

* * *

A tiny bird landed on Lyle's head. With cat reflexes he snatched it and brought it in front of his whiskers. "Well, well, well. Who do we have here?" His hand melted into a shiny liquid, and with it, the bird.

The other one pulled away and reformed into an anthropomorphic bat. "Am I _glad_ to see you!"

Lyle smiled. "I was beginning to think I was the last one of our people left on this deserted rock."

Rouge smiled. "Not at all. And neither are the natives extinct. They've migrated under the surface of the ocean, where they feast on seaweed, fish, and whatever other fruits of the seeds they managed to bring with them that our fine creations did not destroy soon enough."

"Ha! If our people could have been so cleaver." Lyle stared across the barren landscape. "So, how many of us are left?"

Rouge looked down. "It's hard to say. There are only a dozen handfuls of us left, scattered all over the biosphere. There might be even more, but I haven't found more than two hundred."

"Two hundred…" Lyle closed his eyes. "A shame."

"We were once a powerful force on this rock, on the verge of accomplishing our goal."

There was something in her voice that betrayed the beginnings of a plan. Lyle looked at her from the corner of his eye "I take it you have a suggestion?"

Rouge nodded, smiling. "If we can't have this planet, then neither shall they."

Lyle grinned. "What are us two hundred and two going to do?"

Rouge smiled. "I was hoping you'd ask." She tilted her head back and stared at the sun. "It may take a couple of cycles, with so few of us, but I have a plan that will both restore us to greatness, and crush this worthless pebble into dust so we can leave."

Lyle joined her in staring at the sky. "And you've already told the others about this plan." He smiled at the sun. "I like this plan."

* * *

Three years later, the M completed their project and proceeded to launch. The project was placed in geosynchronous orbit above the northeastern continent, invisible to the ocean. So it stayed there, gathering power from the sun, charging up its power cells for D Day.

No Mobian knew of its existence. How could they? They all lived in the ocean by now. They had forgotten what it was like on land, to have warring governments. Ever since the global food shortage, country borders had dissolved and everyone came together to solve the problem. They even patted each other on the back for finally destroying the M after ten years. Not that the effects of the M were entirely gone, i.e., the bugs and seventy percent of the population starved, but things were now starting to look up for everyone. The subsea cities now housed a dozen thousand each, with plenty of room for recreation. Soon, the great brains of the world could start manufacturing ideas to rid the world of the bugs and everything would go back to normal soon.

In short, the new generation had forgotten what it was like to have a hero. They had grown up on empty stomachs and been taught that they had to work for everything themselves. Besides, last time they'd tried that hero thing, it didn't turn out so well. Just look at how wonderful a job that handful of children did keeping the great Doctor Eggman out of things that didn't belong to him, and compare it to how the world looked now. It was probably a good thing that they were able to do things for themselves these days. Because if they had a "hero" or two from the old days, they'd probably have them keel hauled or something.

All the more reason for Steven and Roselyn to live out happy normal lives as friends. Friends, that is, until the day Steven found a suspicious little ring in his glass at dinner, and Roselyn received the exact same surprise wrapped up in her napkin, then both of them making a joke about it. From then on, they'd live normal lives together.

Normal, until D Day, two years later.

* * *

Steven locked the door of the bubble house and came into the den, where Rose was curled up on the couch. "How are we tonight?"

"Absolutely wonderful," Rose reached up for his hand, "now that you're home." She struggled to sit up.

Steven helped her, then turned off the TV. "I remember when we never used to watch that thing."

"I was just passing the time. How was work, Sonic?"

He laughed. "You are the only person in the world who still calls me that."

"So?"

"Great. Everything's going well, everyone is missing you, and it looks like that new shoe design is really going to take off once it hits the market. The trial reviews are great, and all our test pilots said they were extremely comfortable."

"That's good." Rose leaned her head back. "With people walking everywhere, they'd appreciate a good pair of walking shoes."

"How did your doctor's appointment go?" Steven put his arm around Rose.

"Just fine. I'm healthy, the baby's healthy, and we are due sometime next week." She grinned at him. "And I couldn't be happier."

"Hmmm… I'd better ask for next week off, then."

_Eeerrrmmm…_

"What was that?" Rose perked her ears.

"Hm?" Steven looked around.

_Eeerrrkkk!_

"That!" Rose pointed upwards, from where the sounds were coming from.

It was unusually bright for this time of day, outside the one way window walls. Steven stood up and turned off the indoor lights so they'd be able to see outside better. They could see the neighbors doing the same. Above all, they saw the surface of the water, brilliantly lit by the age old sunset. "I'm no aqua structure engineer, but we are _not_ supposed to see that!"

"What's happening?!" Rose reached for her sandals.

"I don't know, but we have to get out of here!" Steven put the sandals on her feet and scooped her up off the couch. "I know it's impossible, but I think the ocean level is dropping!"

Rose wrapped her arms around his neck. "But if that happens…"

_EEERRRMMMKKK!_

"Then the entire city is coming down!" Steven carried her to the door. "Oh great. I locked it, and I left the key in my pocket."

"Kick it down." Rose hugged tighter.

He would've shrugged. "Why not?"

_BAM!_ The door's crash was hardly heard or felt, for all the pandemonium going on out there. Not a lot yet, but there were several people running everywhere, screaming that this was the end of the world. Steven carried Rose through the pushy people to the lift, where they descended to the evacuation level. Empty. No submarines, no people. "What do you say we go ask the people at the top what's going on?"

Rose leaned against the corner of the elevator. "I think we'd better hurry, whatever we do."

Steven came back in the lift and punched the buttons for Operations Deck.

"Restricted Access," the elevator squawked back.

"Whatever, you bucket of bolts. Just get us as close to there as you can!" He pushing the buttons one at a time below Operations Deck. Finally the doors closed.

_EEEAAARRRNNN!K!K!K!_

"What now?!" Rose placed a hand over her large round belly.

"I don't know." Steven tapped his feet impatiently at the door.

Rose giggled.

"What!?"

"You used to do that all the time."

Steven laughed. "Here," he picked her up again.

The elevator dumped them on the promenade, where a rapidly growing number of the inhabitants now bustled about in fear. Some pushed to get in the elevator, others were banging at overcrowded escape pods. Steven spotted a calm, cool, and collected officer in the din and squeezed out of the elevator. "Officer!"

He glanced at them. "Yes!" teeth gritted. "What do you want?!"

"What's happening?" Rose asked, in that way only a woman can.

The officer paused and turned around to face them. "The water level outside is rapidly getting lower, and we are quickly approaching the continental shelf. Be assured that the staff is doing the best we can, but I suggest that you grab hold of something before too long, and don't be near any power conduits."

Steven nodded in thanks. "We'll be sure to pass the word along."

The officer nodded back, then resumed his march.

"Where should we go?" Rose shifted her grim, wincing as she did so. "Nowhere around the core."

"Probably our homes are the safest bet. Not as many shop appliances around, less power lines, less danger." Steven made his way back to the elevator. When it came back, twelve other people forced their way in with them. On every habitation level, they were greeted with dozens of people trying to go up. And everyone, by one person or another, was told that the safest place was in a house. Down, down, down, until Steven and Rose reached Habitation level 7.

Again, the barrage of frightened citizens. Steven forced his way out with Rose, briefly explaining to anyone who heard that the safest place was in their homes.

"Can I come with you?" some gopher tapped Steven's shoulder. "I got here this afternoon, and was just about to leave when the groaning started! I don't have a place to go!"

"Come on!" Steven pushed through the edge of the crowd.

"AH!" Rose's hand flew to her stomach.

"WHAT'S WRONG!?" Steven looked at her.

Rose squeezed her eyes shut. "I think we're a week early."

"Oh ho." The gopher's cheeks plumped out and he looked away. Then he looked back. "Let's get to your house. I know what to do."

Steven walked over the fallen door. "Here we are."

"Make your wife comfy, it's going to be a long night." The gopher picked up the door and wedged it in a closet. "Don't want that falling in on us, whatever happens."

Steven laid Rose on the couch.

"You know what he's saying he's going to do, don't you?" Rose glared up at him through clenched jaws.

"Hey pal! Are you any sort of physician?" Steven went to grab a blanket.

The gopher shrugged. "I'm a nurse, almost."

"Almost!" Rose pushed her arms under her so that she was sort of sitting up. "You're not out of school?! You can't be over twenty!"

"I'm the best you've got!" He pointed a thumb at himself. "Would you rather do this alone?"

"Excuse me," Steven shoved his way between them, spreading the blanket over Rose. "Even if you weren't here, she'd still have me. Surely I'm better than nothing, but you are welcome to stay and help as long as you refrain from degrading Rose. If you do not, I'll kick you out."

"Point taken." The gopher nodded.

"AHHH!" Rose shouted involuntarily.

"Now, good sir, if you would hold the lady's hand and offer phrases of encouragement and words of affection?"

_CRASHBOOMCRUNCHROARCHUNG!_ All at once everything changed. There was a resounding rumble and it felt like the floor had thrust them upward. The room tipped, causing everyone and everything to slide against one wall. Power lines exploded, setting small fires on anything combustible. The room tipped some more, and then the wall suddenly caved in a ways. A crack was heard, and soon everyone was damp from some invisible leak. The air seal around the doorway activated, but there was no door.

"Rose!" Steven called out, feeling sharp pains all over, having to force himself to breathe.

"She's unconscious, but she looks fine for now," the gopher answered. "But there's a leak somewhere, we'll all drown!"

"Not if I can help it!" Steven pushed against the couch, which was pinning him to the wall. "I can't move."

"I can! What should…" the gopher squeezed out from under a low table, finally popping out, "What should I do?"

"Go into the hall and take the green panel off of the right wall. Hurry!" Steven pointed to the door.

The gopher waddled up the inclined floor, wary as the entire city shifted a bit. He stepped into the hall and pulled the panel off. "Should I push that lever down?"

"UP! Push it down, and we'll detach without closing the corridor!"

The gopher pushed the lever up. Just beyond him, part of the hall constricted until the house was sealed off.

"Now you can push it down." Steven leaned his head back against the wall.

With great effort the gopher pushed the lever down. _Clank!_ Everything tipped and rolled. "What's happening?!"

"We're floating to the surface, before the rest of the city comes crashing down on us." Steven sighed, and gently brushed Rose's bangs from her eyes.

"Steven…" she whispered. "Is the baby ok?"

"The baby's fine," he softly whispered back, biting back tears of pain and knowing he was lying when he said, "We're all going to be ok."

Her eyes moistened with tears. "Something hurts inside…"

* * *

Olga stepped outside the next morning. "Oh my… What on Mobius happened!?"

"The ocean's gone."

"Texas is that you!?" She crossly charged around the corner of the lighthouse to find a cloaked figure holding a little bundle in his arms. "No. So tell me who you are!"

"No one, actually." He stood up and handed her the small bundle.

The bundle wiggled and a tiny little girl reached up puny pink fists for the old skunk's face. Olga's heart melted, and she couldn't help but instantly love the child. "Well then, who's this?"

"Bernadette, Rose, Blue." He looked into her eyes.

She stared back, face souring. "This doesn't happen to be the same Blue I…"

He nodded.

"Why give her to me?"

"Because they can't take care of her. Obviously the ocean is now gone, and even you can see the recent wreckage of that city over there. Both her parents were severely injured in the crash, and I was unable to get them to medical help in time. As you can see, there will be many casualties."

Olga studied the stranger. "And yet you walked away without a scratch."

"He was right, you don't mess around, do you?" He pulled off his hood.

Olga screamed, and the baby in her arms cried. "You…!"

He wasn't much taller than her, but the surface of his body was clear as day a shiny silver. "Yes, I'm an M, but you must understand that not all of us are killers. _I_ never wanted any of this to happen. I'm a doctor to my people, and I do my best to learn how to heal all the races we come across." He nodded to the child. "Take care of her, make sure she leads a long and happy life. I'm sorry that my people vaporized the oceans. But we will be leaving now. I feel my people calling me back."

Olga smiled at the baby girl, nodding. "Will do my best."

Little Bernadette grabbed Olga's finger and waved it around. She opened her eyes and her other hand swatted her own face. For the first time she looked at the world around her. Maybe she wondered what this strange and powerful energy inside of her was. Maybe she wondered why the face above her didn't match her own. Maybe she wondered what had happened to the world. She didn't know, but someday she would fully understand what was wrong with her life, and how all of it was somebody else's fault. Somebody by the name of Sonic the Hedgehog.


	24. Chapter 23 Crash Landing

Crash Landing

It was the heat giving him a headache. Shadow struggled to wake up, fighting against the effects of an obviously malfunctioning stasis unit. Too late, it was dragging him under again…

* * *

_Kssshhh…_ "Wow! Come here guys! There's a person in it!"

Shadow rubbed his eyes, grabbing the upper end of the tube and pulling himself out of it. _So bright out!_

"What were you doing in there?" a juvenile tom girl's voice asked.

Shadow peaked out from under his hand. "And just who are you?"

She was about nine or ten years old, mini tank, mini shorts, sandals, most of her hair pulled back in a bow. Her color was a dark magenta, no gloves, wild green eyes. "I asked you first!" She stood back and pointed at him.

A couple of boys ran up, both wearing shorts and sandals. They stayed behind the girl.

_Enough games._ Shadow stood up before them, and being at least a good several inches taller than any of them. All he did was cross his arms and repeat calmly, "Who are all of you?"

The boys backed away. The girl nervously giggled. "Well, uh, Hi! My name's Rosalyn B! Welcome to the neighborhood! What's your name?" She stuck out her hand and offered a cheesy grin.

Shadow ignored the hand. "I am Shadow the Hedgehog." He looked to one of the boys.

He shrieked. "Tommy Kales."

"And you?" Shadow turned to the last kid.

"Bobby Kales," he whispered.

Shadow looked around. "I do not recognize this desert. Where are we?"

"Out of bounds," Rosalyn smartly answered. She leaned back.

"And that means…?"

Rosalyn moved her other foot back. "We're all going to get in trouble if…"

"Robert! Tomas! Rose! Get back here before y'all fry to a crisp!" the call stretched out across the plains, but didn't echo back.

Rosalyn shrugged. "Race y'all back!" she shouted and literally vanished in a cloud of dust.

"Freak!" Tommy shouted after her as he started to run.

"She's _always_ doing that," Bobby reached for Shadow's hand.

Shadow thoughtfully looked after her. "Just how fast _is_ she?"

Bobby shrugged. "Faster than anyone else."

"Can you make it back on your own?" he asked them.

"Yeah."

Shadow nodded. "Then I'm going to find out…" He started skating after Rosalyn, leaving a stunned Bobby behind in the dust.

Rosalyn screamed when Shadow caught up to her. "HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT!?"

Shadow saw that they were approaching a cliff, so he slowed to a stop and turned to her. "You are easily impressed."

Rosalyn's eyes widened. "You can do _more_?"

Shadow decided to ignore that too. "How is it that _you_ can run so fast?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "How can _you_ run so fast?"

"Rose!" the voice echoed from the gorge. "Go back and get Tomas and Robert!"

Rosalyn grumbled and bolted around.

Shadow looked over the edge of the cliff.

An old skunk lady stood on a ledge just below the edge. "You making sure my charges are safely home?" she placed her hands on her hips. "They could use a good whipping, for all the running off in search of bugs they do."

"Who are you?" Shadow called down.

She appeared confused. "Olga, Granny Olga who runs the children's home. Don't you know me?"

Shadow shook his head.

"That's funny." Olga looked down and pinched her chin. "Thought everybody round here knew everyone and their brother by now." She craned her head back and pointed down the wall to Shadow's right. "You can get down here by the low spot over there's a ways. Grab onto the trough and then I think the kids left their stool there."

He nodded and followed her directions. Shadow found the low spot, grabbed on to the lip of a stone waterway, which appeared to be carved straight into the rock wall; he had no trouble climbing down to the stool. He followed the cliff ledge back to Olga.

"Now," she came out of a cave, also artificially carved into the rockwall, with a mixing bowl in hand, "what'd you say your name was?"

"Shadow," he answered. "I am Shadow the Hedgehog."

Olga almost dropped the bowl. "Wow! I mean, _the_ Shadow?" She snorted at herself and went back inside, laughing. She came back without the bowl. "That's exactly what I said when I met _the _Sonic."

"Hmmm… I take it that Faker has been keeping unusual company lately."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing." Shadow studied the environment he now found himself in.

They were in a long and winding gorge, there was a river at the bottom, but he'd never seen a river that big, or a gorge this deep. Caves appeared to be carved into the cliffs, ledges serving as sidewalks. There was a lot of activity, mainly what looked like hunting in the river, way… down… there… There didn't appear to be any buildings, just caves with perfectly rounded arch entrances.

"Mobius is not in the same shape I left it in," Shadow commented.

Olga swatted the children one by one as they ran inside. "Come on in for dinner, Shadow. I think it's time the kids had a history lesson."

* * *

Late that night, Shadow stood alone on Lookout Ledge, thinking about all he'd learned over the meal. _I've been gone for twenty three years, and things haven't changed much in the last eight years. A lot can happen in such a short time._ He heard the crunch of pebbles shifting in sand. "Rosalyn," he said without moving.

She gasped. "How did you know it was me?!" she whisper shouted.

"You are the only one who would sneak out of bed on a night like this."

Rosalyn whistled. "If Granny Olga had your senses, we'd all have to learn how to levitate or something." She walked up and sat on a rock near the edge. She swung her feet a bit. "You lied to us."

Shadow looked at her.

She turned her head away. "You mumbled something about blah blah blah, such a long time it's been and all that, then you went on about how you were now seventy-four now. You are not seventy-four. Granny Olga is sixty seven and she's _way_ more old looking than you."

"Oh? What do you think I look like if Olga looks old?"

"Scary." She looked into his eyes. "But I think I'm the one who's least afraid of you. Tommy and Bobby are babies when it comes to the tough stuff. How old are you really?"

"Seventy four. I was created in the year 3183, and it is now 3257, correct?"

"You have no proof… Wait, you were created?" She giggled.

"Yes. I don't have parents like you."

"Then… how…?"

"It's complicated." All this time, Shadow hadn't moved.

"That's ok." Rosalyn swung her feet again. "I don't have parents either. They died shortly after I was born."

Shadow glanced at her. "I believe I knew your parents."

"Pants on fire." Rosalyn stuck her tong out. "And you're not much older than me."

_Here we go again._ Shadow resumed staring out over the canyon. "Suit yourself."

Rosalyn hugged herself and slid down from the rock, now sitting against it. "Aren't you cold?"

"No."

"What's your mother's name?"

"I never had a mother."

"Who'd your dad?"

"I never had a father."

"Where are you from?"

"Space Colony ARK."

Rosalyn laughed. "Fairy tales."

"History."

"Hanging from a telephone wire."

"You don't even know what that is, do you?" Shadow looked down at her.

Rosalyn crossed her arms. "Sure I do! It means you're a big fat liar!"

"I mean the telephone. What is a telephone?"

She stared off into space for a bit. "A home where you tell all your…"

Shadow chuckled.

"What?" Rosalyn leaned over.

"Nothing." Shadow again resumed his posture.

Long silence. The girl poked Shadow's shoes. "You have weird feet."

"These shoes are made of metal."

Rosalyn laid on her back, looking at the stars. "Oh look! It's the constellation Twins! Mia, and Kia, twins of the starry sky."

Shadow frowned. _If only she knew the graphic significance of those acronyms._ "When I was still on ARK, we always called that particular constellation by the name of Gemini. Those names are inaccurate."

"That's what everyone else calls them by." Rosalyn sighed. "I'm bored."

"Then go to bed."

"I'm not sleepy."

"That's what they all say."

She sat up. "How come you're so _good_ at this?"

"Because I've had plenty of practice with another Chaos empowered hedgehog like yourself, who possessed the same wit you do."

Rosalyn sniffed. "Yeah, I heard what they said in there. I'm the stinking kid of the clown who wrecked Mobius for us."

Shadow knelt down so that their heads were level. "Don't you ever say anything like that again."

The little girl's eyes widened an she scooted back against the rock.

Shadow decided to sit against the rock opposite hers. "Why do you go by Rosalyn, if that's not your real name?"

"Because I know three, count 'em, three other Roses, and I can't pronounce Benetta. Brenta. Breneteteha. B. I go by Rosalyn B because it sounds more like me." She shivered in the chilly winds. "Whatever. So what _if_ you're seventy? You're as stuck as glue here, so what are you going to do?"

Shadow shrugged. "I guess I'll stay here."

"Then we'll be hanging out a lot, huh?"

"Only if you insist."

"I'm cold." Rosalyn shivered again.

"Then go to bed."

"I'm not sleepy!"

"That's what they all say."

Rosalyn sighed. "Tell me about my parents."

Shadow smiled at her. "I was wondering when you were going to ask."


	25. Epilogue: The Past

The Past

"As you can see, Silver," Shadow gave the Chaos Emerald back to me. "You are holding the keys to time in your hands. By using the Chaos Emeralds, you really _can_ go back in time and change things."

I looked at Blaze. "That would be great! I hate the way the world is now."

"You wouldn't be the first. Imagine a world with level ground!" Blaze closed her eyes.

"And real oceans!" Marine clapped her hands. "I would build my own sailing ship and sail around the world!"

Blaze grinned. "I would protect all the Chaos Emeralds from harm."

"And I could save the world!" I couldn't help myself, I flew up in the air and performed summersaults.

Shadow caught my foot and brought me back down. "Grow up, would you?! You don't want to end up making things worse than they already are." With just a flick of his hands, the Chaos Emeralds were in his hands.

"How could we do that?" Marine looked puzzled.

"By making unwise changes to the timeline." Shadow held up a Chaos Emerald. "The world didn't get this way with you kids messing around in the timeline. You could so much as talk to someone, and things could turn out much worse than they are now."

"How can things be _any _worse than they already are?" I reached for the Emeralds.

Shadow held them away. "No. I won't allow you to travel back in time as of yet. None of you have the knowledge or experience to take on such an undertaking."

"Then come with us," I suggested. "You could show us what do to at every step."

Shadow sighed. "Then there would be a chance that I meet myself, and we wouldn't want _that_ kind of paradox."

"A pair of docks?" Marine shook her head with her eyes closed. "What on Mobius would we need_ those_ for?"

"Never mind!" Shadow shook his head. _After all this time, I still hate dealing with children. They are so immature._ He frowned at them. "The point is, I am going to hang on to the Chaos Emeralds until you are old enough to go back in time."

Blaze whispered into my ear, "We don't need him, get the Chaos Emeralds and let's be on our way."

Nodding, I mentally grabbed the Chaos Emeralds.

Shadow glared at me and slipped them into hammerspace. "_That_ is what I'm talking about."

"And just what are we supposed to do until we grow up?" Marine crossed her arms and cocked her head.

"Look around," Shadow advised. "Pay attention to things. Practice your ESP abilities. As always, you are welcome to talk to me about things of the times you will need to visit someday. Become stronger, faster, and train yourselves in endurance and dexterity."

"All these big words…" Marine closed her eyes and shrugged in resignation.

"And in general, grow up." Shadow stood up and opened the door for us. "Learn from your mistakes, learn from each other, and work on your vocabulary."

We all exited the dwelling.

"Blaze, what's a voca berry?" Marine scratched her head.

She sighed. "I ought to buy you a dictionary."

"It won't be so bad," I shrugged. "After all, now we have something worthwhile to do with our lives. Sorry Marine."

"That's ok, Silver mate."

"Oh, look at her!" Blaze gestured to the five year old. "She's already starting to talk like a pirate."

"What's a pirate?" I asked.

I swear I could see flames in her eyes. "You two don't read enough."

"I can't read at all." Marine leaped forward and blasted a rock with her immature ESP energy balls. "Why do I need to read when I can do that?"

"Because otherwise," I picked her up and tickled her with my psycokinesis. "I'll transform into Silly Silver if you don't!"

Marine giggled. "Silver mate! Stop it!"

I gently set her down.

She ran away down the path.

"Shadow told us that teams work best in threes." Blaze pinched her chin, like she did when she was thinking. "I'm very fast."

"I can fly."

"And Marine can blow stuff up." She smirked at me. "We _might_ make a good team, once you and her finish growing up like the old man said." She tore off down the stone path.

"You!" I ran after her, but as usual, it was no use.

* * *

And who knew? Maybe we will make a good team someday. We might even come home to a better place, one without the trenches, or the bugs, or the fire. It's even possible that we'll come home as heroes.

That's the way life works on Mobius. It breathes. It rolls from one thing to the next like a perpetual motion machine. One day after another. Year after year, season after season, decade after decade, month over month. Constantly. Never pausing to have a break. And when something stops up, everyone holds their breath until something snaps and one way or another, everything is over. It had always been like this, and probably always would be. Time would go on, but people could not. There would always be the good, and there would always be the bad. And the world needed both to cancel each other out, because…

Because a world like this one needs a hero.


	26. Chapter 25 Author's Notes

**Author's notes**

**Once upon a time**, I dreamed that I went to the world of what I now know to be Mobius. The day before, a good friend had showed me issue # 176 of the comics and I and my brother were goners. I made up my own character, wrote two whole (but childish) books that she had in his world (first book) and he had in hers (second book). Then I shifted to just Sonic characters, thinking that I could someday use said characters in my own series of legit books. The only problem was that I'd already written two and three quarters books dependent on these first two. At this point the M were just a bunch of half-baked bad memories for Sonic which looked and acted roughly like Buzzbombers. My next book was turning out soooo good, and my first four books were soooo dumb, I felt like I needed a reboot.

**The M**. Villainous creatures without souls that read the story of your life with just one acidic touch, yet surprisingly similar in culture and family structure to real people (human or otherwise). At the same time, all they say that they are is a lie, and one will never know what the M really call themselves.

The M War is really **a psychology experiment**, each side believing that the other is evil, and telling fellow aliens only one side of the story. No little kids love being separated from their families, and you can't blame the man with the stick for wanting revenge for his wife and kids on the little girl who was just searching for other M. According to that man, all M were killers. _Sigh!_ If only he had met the M who delivered Rosalyn B.

I think **this book explores** what it's like when no one is willing to listen to the other side because they are soooo blinded by their own misconceptions about what actually happened. If only people would stop and think, then maybe things might not turn out so ugly in the end!

**Credits**

The M War **would not have been possible** without my poor captive audience Shadow 8472, whom I tortuously fed cliffhanger after cliffhanger while we chatted over Skype. He read through and helped me correct many of my stupid mistakes, as well as design that fabulous cover. Speaking of…

**As for the cover**, you will definitely notice the CG Mighty standing tall and proud with the other Chaotix. Imagine how our eyes bugged out when we saw such an epic Photoshop! (Espio to Mighty) Hats off everyone to our commendable artist Chris Phyffer, whom I'm sad to say I do not know in real life. Also the Tornado behind Tails are from louie123456789's "tails and his tornado" on Devian Art. Similarly, Angel Island was originally part of DarXide's project to map said Island in 3D. If you ever so choose, everyone, I'll have my brother remove your awesome artwork form the cover of The M War, because I know we borrowed it without asking. Personally, I love the job you did, and hope you like where we have it on the front cover of this book.

**Likewise: **

Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Big, Vanilla, Cheese, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Maria, Jet, Wave, Storm, the Tornado, Extreme Gear, the commander, Silver, Blaze, Marine, the Chaos Emeralds, Mobius, ARK, GUN Headquarters, and Sonic all belong to SEGA, an honorable organization to which I have no official affiliation other than being a costumer and a fan.

**On the other hand…**

Mudly, Captain "Daddy" Clinch, the M, Olga, Annie, Rosalyn B., any crowd folk you may particularly like, the stargazing tree, the underwater cities, the hospital, and Vanilla's tent are all MINE, and if ANYONE ever wants to use or borrow ANYTHING that I made up, all you have to do is ask.

**Inspirations**

Music and videos are among the two things I simply cannot help. I LOVE YOUTUBE! That is, (in case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm an artist) the movies done by people who ever actually cared. Mentioned below are the songs and/or the movies I listened to or watched when writing The M War.

RaeLogan's "Valentine's Day-Sonic Characters Deaths" song by Linkin Park

ValentinoSonic's "Bones Shatter MEP" song by Hedley

SonicStorm12's "The Unknown Soldier-v2.0 (Sonic the Hedgehog K.I.A)" song by Breaking Benjamin

2 awesome videos sadly removed from YouTube, both featuring the song "This is War" by 30 Seconds to Mars

The sort movie "Sonic Epilogue" by mree, who can be found with her own notes at (if you have flash) at Newgrounds.

SonicdaShapeshifter's "Sonic x Amy: Wherever You Are" song I think is originally by Disney but I'm not sure who sings this rendition.

Me, and all by previous dumb books now archived

Anyone or anything that I might have missed.

As for anyone who doesn't feel like they've been given due credit CONGRATULATIONS YOU WON THE CONTEST! No real contest, it's just that I like your work, and feel that it is worthy of my attention and praise.

**Be sure the check out the poll on my profile page! "What would your strategy be?"**


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